about midnight
It was then that one of the men stuck his head up through the hatchway and seeing me , asked permission to come on deck and get a breath of fresh air . I recognized him as Benson , the man who , Wilson had said , reported having seen Lys with von Schoenvorts two nights before . I motioned him on deck and then called him to one side , asking if he had seen anything out of the way or unusual during his trick on watch the night before . The fellow scratched his head a moment and said , `` No , '' and then as though it was an afterthought , he told me that he had seen the girl in the crew 's room about midnight talking with the German commander , but as there had n't seemed to him to be any harm in that , he had n't said anything about it . Telling him never to fail to report to me anything in the slightest out of the ordinary routine of the ship , I dismissed him . Several of the other men now asked permission to come on deck , and soon all but those actually engaged in some necessary duty were standing around smoking and talking , all in the best of spirits . I took advantage of the absence of the men upon the deck to go below for my breakfast , which the cook was already preparing upon the electric stove .