eight o'clock before
In half an hour after sunset the darkness had taken complete possession of earth and heavens . The islands had melted into the night . And on the smooth water of the Straits , the little brig lying so still , seemed to sleep profoundly , wrapped up in a scented mantle of star light and silence . It was half-past eight o'clock before Lingard came on deck again . Shaw -- now with a coat on -- trotted up and down the poop leaving behind him a smell of tobacco smoke . An irregularly glowing spark seemed to run by itself in the darkness before the rounded form of his head . Above the masts of the brig the dome of the clear heaven was full of lights that flickered , as if some mighty breathings high up there had been swaying about the flame of the stars .