five o'clock
Before morning , Bainbridge had reached a stage of familiarity that permitted him to sit on the edge of Peters ' bed and talk to the old fellow briefly and quietly about his farm , and of Doctor Castleton 's goodness and ability , and on other subjects presumably interesting to the invalid . Bainbridge would gently pat the poor old man on a shoulder , and smooth his head -- somewhat as one does in making the acquaintance of a big dog . By morning Peters was thoroughly accustomed to our presence ; and he seemed to take our watchfulness as a matter of course , and even to look for our attentions as a kind of right . He had slept several hours through the night , and at five o'clock was awake and seemingly much improved . Not the slightest delirium , even of the passive form -- in fact , nothing of a nature that could alarm or disconcert us , had occurred . Bainbridge had mentioned eight o'clock as about the time he would broach the subject of subjects to Peters , intending , as a matter of course , to lead up to it by very tactful gradations , passing from journeys in the abstract to the journeys in the concrete , thence to sea voyages , and thence , perhaps , to some mention of recent arctic -LRB- not antarctic -RRB- explorations ; and then , asking no questions yet , to proceed to a mention of Nantucket , from which vantage ground the propriety of risking a mention of the name Barnard would be considered . If up to this point all went well , a more pointed question or allusion might well be risked -- the brig Grampus , for instance , might be named ; and then , without more delay than should be necessary for Peters ' rest , we might hope to elicit the whole story of that wonderful voyage of discovery , the evidence of the completion of which certainly appeared to be before our eyes in the form of Dirk Peters , the returned voyager to the South Pole , in person .