about midday
The wind was blowing again , the sea was much smaller and more regular , and I knew that I had passed through the centre . Fortunately , there were no sharks about . The hurricane had dissipated the ravenous horde that had surrounded the death ship and fed off the dead . It was about midday when the _ Petite Jeanne _ went to pieces , and it must have been two hours afterward when I picked up with one of her hatch-covers . Thick rain was driving at the time ; and it was the merest chance that flung me and the hatch-cover together . A short length of line was trailing from the rope handle ; and I knew that I was good for a day , at least , if the sharks did not return . Three hours later , possibly a little longer , sticking close to the cover , and , with closed eyes , concentrating my whole soul upon the task of breathing in enough air to keep me going and at the same time of avoiding breathing in enough water to drown me , it seemed to me that I heard voices .