midnight
Consequently our course had been a series of tacks to and fro , like the zigzags of a mountain road . Still we had this on our side -- the schooner had to shape her course in the same way , and suffer from the constant little succession of calms as we did . The confident tone of our skipper was encouraging , but we could not feel very sure when we saw from time to time that the schooner was evidently leaving us behind . But we had not calculated on our man 's nautical knowledge , for as we got further out he began to manoeuvre so as to make shorter tacks , and at last , when the moon was rising high in the heavens , and we were getting well out from under the influence of the land , the easy way in which the course of the boat could be changed gave us a great advantage , and towards midnight our hopes rose high . `` There , '' said our skipper , `` what do yew say now ? That 's a little craft to move , ai n't she ? '' `` Move ?