three o'clock
Night came on ; the fog still enveloped us , and the situation became darker . We had our supper , and I turned in , with the understanding that at midnight I was to take the watch , and let Walkirk sleep . It was of no use to make ourselves any more uncomfortable than need be . It was between two and three o'clock when I was called to go on watch ; and after I had been sitting in the stern smoking and thinking for an hour or more , I noticed that the light on the mast had gone out . It was , however , growing lighter , and , fancying that the fog was thinner , I trusted to the coming of the day and a breeze , and made no attempt to take down and refill the lantern . Not long after this my attention was attracted by something which appeared like the nucleus of a dark cloud forming in the air , a short distance above the water , and not far away on our port quarter . Rapidly the cloud grew bigger and blacker .