midnight
They returned to the boat deck , and with his rule Mr. Reardon carefully measured the exact distance between the ship 's rail and the center of the doors of the state-rooms occupied by the mates and assistant engineers . This detail attended to , they went to the carpenter 's little shop and cut two scantlings of a length to correspond to the measurements taken , and in addition Mr. Reardon prepared some thin cleats with countersunk holes for the insertion of screws . He worked very leisurely , and it was eleven o'clock when he had everything in readiness . `` There 's nothin ' to do now until midnight , whin the watch in the ingine room is changed , '' Mr. Reardon suggested , `` so lave us go to the galley . Wan av me brave lads is in there , an ' if he 's not dead intirely , faith , I 'm thinkin ' I might injoy a cup av coffee ! '' So they went to the galley and found the look-out glaring at them . He made inarticulate noises behind his gag , so Mr. Reardon , much relieved , found seats for each of them and poured coffee .