noon
The brother of my love had charge of one of the boats engaged in this transportation , and , being desirous of visiting the islets , I accepted an invitation to accompany him on one of his trips . I know nothing of how the accident happened , but in the fiercest part of the current of one of the straits we parted from the cable and were swept out to sea . There was no question of stemming the boiling current , our utmost endeavors barely sufficing to avoid being dashed to pieces on the rocks . From the first , there was no hope of our winning back to the land , and so swiftly did we drift that by noon -- the accident having befallen in the morning -- the islands , which are low-lying , had sunk beneath the southwestern horizon . Among these mind-readers , distance is not an insuperable obstacle to the transfer of thought . My companion was in communication with our friends , and from time to time conveyed to me messages of anguish from my dear love ; for , being well aware of the nature of the currents and the unapproachableness of the islands , those we had left behind , as well as we ourselves , knew well we should see each other 's faces no more . For five days we continued to drift to the northwest , in no danger of starvation , owing to our lading of provisions , but constrained to unintermitting watch and ward by the roughness of the weather .