About nine o'clock
These she bestowed upon Captain Cephas and Captain Eli . And the end of all this was that in the whole of Sponkannis , from the foot of the bluff to the east , to the very last house on the shore to the west , there was not one Christmas eve party so happy as this one . Captain Cephas was not quite so happy as the three others were , but he was very much interested . About nine o'clock the party broke up , and the two captains put on their caps and buttoned up their pea-jackets , and started for Captain Cephas 's house , but not before Captain Eli had carefully fastened every window and every door except the front door , and had told Mrs. Trimmer how to fasten that when they had gone , and had given her a boatswain 's whistle , which she might blow out of the window if there should be a sudden croup and it should be necessary for any one to go anywhere . He was sure he could hear it , for the wind was exactly right for him to hear a whistle from his house . When they had gone Mrs. Trimmer put the little girl to bed , and was delighted to find in what a wonderfully neat and womanlike fashion that house was kept . It was nearly twelve o'clock that night when Captain Eli , sleeping in his bunk opposite that of Captain Cephas , was aroused by hearing a sound .