the sun at noon
When I went on deck at eight bells it was to find that the atmosphere had thickened again , to such an extent , indeed , that although it was estimated that we must now be within half a mile of the French ship , there was not the faintest trace of her to be seen . The skipper , however , considered that he was now as close to her as he desired to be ; he therefore ordered the course to be changed back to North-North-East , and , at the moment when I gained the deck , was giving Mr Howard instructions to let the men have their dinner , and then to put out the fires and clear for action . The keenness of the crew to get to work was evidenced by the fact that although the men 's dinner was now ready , it was with the utmost difficulty that they could be persuaded to go below and eat it ; and when at length they went , in obedience to the Captain 's imperative orders , they returned to the deck in less than ten minutes , and at once set to work of their own accord to put the ship into fighting trim . It was evident to me that the master was greatly disappointed at not having been able to get a sight of the sun at noon , and I could not help thinking that , as the time passed on , he was not only disappointed but was beginning to grow more than a trifle anxious , especially as shortly after midday the weather became more gloomy and the wind freshened very considerably . He betook himself to the poop , up and down which he paced rapidly , with his hands behind his back , and his eyes fixed abstractedly on the deck , except when he raised them from time to time to gaze long and piercingly ahead . At length four bells struck , and almost immediately afterward , with a further freshening of the wind , the atmosphere cleared sufficiently to afford us another glimpse of the French ship , which suddenly appeared , with almost startling distinctness , about three-quarters of a mile distant , bearing one point before our starboard beam . A dozen eager voices at the same moment reported her reappearance , and the Captain sprang up on the poop to get another look at her .