noon
At the first gray blush of dawn on the following day Captain Brand was astir again , and before the sun went down behind the waves the schooner `` Centipede '' had been transformed into a brigantine , her fore-mast reduced , new standing rigging fitted for it , with a new bowsprit and head-booms , her rail raised four or five feet by shifting bulwarks , and a temporary house built on deck over the long gun . She was also painted afresh , with a white streak ; and , with false head-boards on her bows to hide her snakelike snout of a cutwater , no one , unless in the secret , could have known that the clumsy box of a merchantman lying there was once the low , swift , piratical schooner which had made so notorious a name in the West Indies . Still the work was driven on with scarcely any intermission -- a few hours ' repose for the crew at night , and an hour for dinner in the day ; but as for Captain Brand , he never slept at all -- a doze for an hour or two , perhaps , on his settee in the saloon , and a cup of tea in the morning , with cigar-smoke , satisfied his frugal requirements . The next day , by noon , the water and stores were got on board the brigantine , her magazine stowed , the dunnage of the crew transferred from the sheds , the captain 's camphor trunks on board and cabin in order , the sails bent , anchors on the bows , and , swinging to a hawser made fast to the rocks , the vessel was ready to put to sea at any moment . `` Pedillo , '' said Captain Brand , as his vigilant gaze took in all around him and then rested on the `` Centipede '' -- `` Pedillo , you may warp the vessel down to the mouth of the Tiger 's Trap so soon as you 've strewed some fagots ready for lighting in the sheds . When you get to the Trap , tell the gunner to take a gang of hands and give that battery a good coat of coal tar , plug the vents of the guns , and bury carriages and all in the sand beside the magazine . Tell him to destroy the powder , and pitch overboard all he ca n't conceal ; and let him bear a hand about it , for we shall sail with the last of the sea-breeze toward sunset .