midnight
One , the carpenter , was lying here dead , and from the shriek which preceded the captain 's cry , another had already been accounted for by the mutineers . `` This reduced the number to eight . The next question was , how many were the mutineers ? I had guessed at once that Colliver and Railton had a hand in the business , for -LRB- in addition to my previous distrust of the men -RRB- it was just upon midnight when we heard the first cry , that is to say , the time when the watch was changed , and I knew that these two belonged to the captain 's watch . But could they be alone ? `` It seemed impossible , and yet I knew no others among the crew to distrust , and certainly Davis , who was acting as mate at present , was , although an indifferent navigator , as true as steel . Moreover , the fact that the mutineers ' success in shooting the doctor had not been followed up , made my guess seem more likely .