noon
The weather seemed to be improving , but the men were well-nigh worn out with pumping . When the captain at last came on deck , in spite of their grumbling , he kept them labouring away as hard as ever , and ordered Jim and me to take our turn with the rest . This we did willingly , as we knew that unless all exerted themselves the brig must founder . As noon approached , the captain brought up his quadrant , and sent below to summon the mate to take observations though the clouds hung so densely over the sky that there was but little chance of doing this . `` Might as well try to shoot the sun at midnight as now , with the clouds as dark as pitch , '' growled the mate . `` What was the use of calling me up for such fool 's work ? '' `` What 's that you say ? ''