two
o'clock
No one , as far as I knew , cared a straw what became of me ; so that I was spared any worry on that head . And I had also a very definite and well-established trust in God , which I can now look back and see was as fully justified as I then believed it to be . So , as I could not shut my ears to the cruelties being carried on , nor banish thought by hard work , I looked up to the stately stars , thinking of things not to be talked about without being suspected of cant . So swiftly passed the time that when four bells struck : -LRB- two o'clock -RRB- I could hardly believe my ears . I was relieved by one of the Portuguese , and went forward to witness a curious scene . Seven stalwart men were being compelled to march up and down on that tumbling deck , men who had never before trodden anything less solid than the earth . The third mate , a waspish , spiteful little Yankee with a face like an angry cat , strolled about among them , a strand of rope-yarns in his hand , which he wielded constantly , regardless where he struck a man .