ten o'clock
There was only one white man among our protectors , and he was a Scotchman . The men made a fire in a more or less sheltered spot , and round this we squatted , the men outside us , so as to afford us greater protection from the storm . In this way the whole night passed , principally in telling stories of adventure by sea and land . We all hoped that by morning at any rate the wind would have abated ; but at daybreak , as we looked anxiously out over the tempestuous sea , it was blowing as hard as ever ; and by ten o'clock the storm had increased to a terrific gale . Our men unanimously declared they dared not attempt to reach the ship in their small boat , although we could see the vessel plainly riding at her old anchorage . What followed Gladys and I gathered afterwards , just before the dreadful thing happened . We were all safe enough on land , but , it became evident to the sailors with us that the ship could not weather the storm unless she weighed anchor and stood out to sea .