one o'clock
`` Why , if we had n't been in the steadiest ship in the whole fleet we might have been washed overboard . '' There was another shout of laughter . O'Grady made a dash at Terence , but the latter easily avoided him and went down below to change his clothes . The gale increased in strength , and the whole vessel strained so heavily that her seams began to open , and by one o'clock the captain requested Major Harrison , who was in command , to put some of the soldiers at the pumps . For three days and nights relays of men kept the pumps going . Had it not been for the 400 troops on board , the _ Sea-horse _ would long before have gone to the bottom ; but with such powerful aid the water was kept under , and on the morning of the fourth day the storm began to abate , and by evening more canvas was got on her . The next morning two vessels were seen astern at a distance of four or five miles .