midnight
I have had as rough a time on Lake Superior as we had last night , if not a rougher . '' I told my story as briefly as I could . `` Your education has not been neglected , Captain Alick , '' continued Captain Mayfield . `` If you had not managed the Sylvania so well last night , most of us must have perished ; for I have no doubt that the Olive went to pieces before midnight . She was a well-built vessel , but rather old . The gale kept forcing her up to the sharp coral rocks , and she was grinding off her timbers at a very rapid rate when we left her . If there had been any chance for her I would not have left her .