midnight
And he swore at such a rate that he panted for fresh air and mounted to the deck . It was not a time for Dickory to make remarks indicating his disapproval of the proposed arrangement . As the Revenge sailed on over sunny seas or under lowering clouds , Dickory was no stranger to the binnacle , and the compass always told him that they were sailing eastward . He had once asked Blackbeard where they now were by the chart , but that gracious gentleman of the midnight beard had given him oaths for answers , and had told him that if the captain knew where the ship was on any particular hour or minute nobody else on that ship need trouble his head about it . But at last the course of the Revenge was changed a little , and she sailed northward . Then Dickory spoke with one of the mildest of the mates upon the subject of their progress , and the man made known to him that they were now about half-way through the Windward passage . Dickory started back .