midday
The night passed without incident of any sort ; and when I awoke at dawn there was still no sign of wind , for which I was thankful ; for , while I was naturally anxious to be making some progress , it was vitally necessary to get more sail upon the brig ; and this little spell of calm weather happened most opportunely for my purpose . A bath , an early breakfast , and I went to work once more , the bending and setting , of the fore-topsail being my first job . I finished this about noon , and considered that I had done very well when at dusk I had added to my spread of canvas the standing jib and spanker . It was a whim of Miss Onslow 's that our midday meal should be tiffin ; dinner being reserved until the work of the day was over , when -- as the young lady sagely remarked -- we could both spare time to do due justice to the meal . Thus it happened , upon the day in question , that it was quite dark when at length , having washed and polished myself up after the labours of the day , I took my place at the table in the brig 's little cabin . It was then still flat calm ; but we had scarcely finished the meal when a little draught of air came down through the open skylight , cool and refreshing , and at the same moment the sound of a faint rustling of the canvas reached our ears . I at once sprang up on deck , and found that a light air from about east-south-east had sprung up , taking us aback and giving the brig sternway .