afternoon about three o’clock
Archie shared a stateroom with three sergeants , and they managed to have a lively time during the voyage . They played games , told stories , and slept in the afternoons , but all this , of course , grew rather tiresome after a time , and the voyage was becoming monotonous , when there came a severe storm which kept things moving for three days . None of the navigating officers had expected a gale , so that when it came every one was taken wholly by surprise , and it came so suddenly that there was no time at all for preparation . The sky became quickly dark one afternoon about three o'clock , and soon the whole horizon was a mass of great black clouds , which every moment seemed to come lower and lower until they directly overhung the ship . There was great excitement aboard the ship . Officers hurried here and there shouting orders to their men , and the cavalrymen rushed about in a frenzy of haste , trying to devise means to save their horses , most of which were stabled upon the deck . Archie looked on in breathless interest , and was surprised to find that he was n't at all frightened .