midnight
Now wet and cold were their enemies , worse than any that they had been called upon to face . Long ago the driving spray had soaked them to the skin , and there upon the sea the winter night was very chill . While the wind , fortunately for them , by comparison a warm one , still blew from the west , and the sea remained tempestuous , they found some shelter by wrapping themselves in a corner of the sail . Towards midnight , however , it got round to the northeast , enough of it to moderate the sea considerably , and to enable them to put the boat about and go before it with a closely reefed sail . Now , indeed , they were bitterly cold , and longed even for the shelter of the wet canvas . Still Morris felt , and Stella was of the same mind , that before utter exhaustion overtook them their best chance for life lay in trying to make the shore , which was , they knew not how far away . There , then , for hours they cowered in the stern of the boat , huddled together to protect themselves as best they might from the weather , and plunging forward beneath their little stretch of sail .