midnight
`` That , '' he remarked , `` is a dead fair wind for us , and will enable us to progress at the rate of one hundred and forty miles an hour over the ground , if we proceed at full speed , and we shall therefore -- Stop a moment ; I must work this out on paper . '' He drew an envelope from his pocket and proceeded to make a few rapid calculations upon it . `` Yes , '' he resumed at length , as he ran over his figures a second time , `` that is right . If we start at midnight we shall -- assuming the wind to hold all the way as it is now -- overtake the convict-ship about half-past six o'clock to-morrow morning at a point , say , one hundred and sixty-five miles south of Odessa , which is practically halfway across the Black Sea . The time and place are both suitable , and I do not think that we can do better . '' As this was essentially a point for a sailor to decide , the other members of the party at once fell in with this virtual proposal of Mildmay 's , and it was forthwith agreed , without further discussion , that a start should be made at midnight . The men then rose and joined the ladies in the drawing-room , or music-room , as the apartment was indifferently called .