midnight
` If it comes on to blow from there we shall have to clear out ; but I think it 's only rain . Let 's stow the sails . ' Another whirlwind of activity , in which I joined as effectively as I could , oppressed by the prospect of having to ` clear out ' -- who knows whither ? -- at midnight . But Davies 's _ sang froid _ was infectious , I suppose , and the little den below , bright-lit and soon fragrant with cookery , pleaded insistently for affection . Yachting in this singular style was hungry work , I found . Steak tastes none the worse for having been wrapped in newspaper , and the slight traces of the day 's news disappear with frying in onions and potato-chips .