about two
o'clock in the morning
`` Pray , how did she appear to you ? '' `` Why , the fact is , I did not see anything but the loom of her hull , '' replied the other . `` It was very strange ; the night was fine , and the heavens clear ; we were under top-gallant sails , for I do not carry on during the night , or else we might have put the royals on her ; she would have carried them with the breeze . I had turned in , when about two o'clock in the morning , the mate called me to come on deck . I demanded what was the matter , and he replied he could hardly tell , but that the men were much frightened , and that there was a Ghost Ship , as the sailors termed it , in sight . I went on deck ; all the horizon was clear , but on our quarter was a sort of fog , round as a ball , and not more than two cables ' length from us . We were going about four knots and a half free , and yet we could not escape from this mist .