midnight
Half an hour afterward the sailors removed the food ; and many of those who had refused to touch it soon regretted bitterly that they had not done so , for as the time went on hunger began to make itself felt . It was evening before the next meal , consisting of black bread and a great piece of salt beef , was brought down . This time there were no abstentions . As the evening wore on fresh batches of prisoners were brought in , until , by midnight , the number was raised to fifty . Many of them had been seriously knocked about in their capture , and Jack , who had persuaded his friend the sailor to bring down three or four more buckets of salt water , did his best , by bathing and bandaging their wounds , to put them at their ease . In the morning he could see who were his companions in misfortune . Many of them he knew by sight as loafers on the wharves and as troublesome or riotous characters .