ten o'clock
The mate began his part of the love-making at once , and , fixing a gaze of concentrated love on the object of his regard , nearly ran down a smack . As he had prognosticated , it came easy to him , and other well-marked symptoms , such as loss of appetite and a partiality for bright colours , developed during the day . Between breakfast and tea he washed five times , and raised the ire of the skipper to a dangerous pitch by using the ship 's butter to remove tar from his fingers . By ten o'clock that night he was far advanced in a profound melancholy . All the looking had been on his side , and , as he stood at the wheel keeping the schooner to her course , he felt a fellow-feeling for the hapless Towson , His meditations were interrupted by a slight figure which emerged from the companion , and , after a moment 's hesitation , came and took its old seat on the skylight . `` Calm and peaceful up here , is n't it ? '' said he , after waiting some time for her to speak .