midnight
I keep repeating the word and it rings in my ears like a bell . Let me try to calculate how long I have been here . The ship must have been under way for at least four or five hours . I reckon it must be past midnight , but I can not tell , for unfortunately my watch is of no use to me in this Cimmerian darkness . Now , if we have been going for five hours , we must have cleared Pamlico Sound , whether we issued by Ocracoke or Hatteras inlet , and must be off the coast a good mile , at least . Yet I have n't felt any motion from the swell of the sea . It is inexplicable , incredible !