the sun at noon
Of course it would not have been wise in me to complain of Barney to Peter , as it might have caused a quarrel ; so I contented myself with doing my best to keep out of my enemy 's way , just as a cat does out of the way of a dog which has taken a fancy to worry her . Captain Helfrich had hitherto taken no notice whatever of me , and he seemed to me so awful a person , that I never expected to be spoken to by him . Now and then the mates ordered me to do some little job or other , to fetch a swab or a marlinespike , or to hold a paint-pot , but they in no other way noticed me . I remember how blue the sky was , and how sparkling the sea , and how hot the sun at noon shone down on our heads , and how brightly the moon floated above us at night , and formed a long , long stream of silvery light across the waters ; and I used to fancy , as I stood looking at it , that I could hear voices calling to me from far , far-off , and telling me of my sweet , calm-eyed mother , still remembered fondly , and of my poor father , snatched from me so suddenly . I wo n't talk much about that sort of thing . It seems now like a long-forgotten dream -- I believe that , even then , I was dreaming . Well , as I said , the fine weather continued for a long time , till I was awoken one morning by a loud , roaring , dashing , creaking sound , or rather , I might say , of a mixture of such sounds ; and as I began to rub my eyes , I thought that I should have been hove out of the narrow crib in which I was stowed away in the very bows of the vessel .