nearly midnight
The _ Esmeralda _ , though , was not out of all danger yet . There was still the fear of her being pooped by the following waves , which now raced after , in anger at her having escaped their clutches ; so , to lessen this possibility , the skipper had the reefed main-topsail set again , and the mizzen trysail once more hoisted , so that the ship might get through the water faster than the pursuing rollers . The strain on the masts was tremendous ; but , fortunately , everything held , and under the impetus of this additional sail power she doubled her speed , bidding defiance to the harpies of the ocean that had so nearly worsted her in the combat . It was just four bells in the afternoon watch when we got her head round before the wind , although it was not until nearly midnight that the hurricane blew itself out , the wind then dropping almost as suddenly as it had sprung up twenty-four hours before . During all this time , only one of the watches had a short spell below , and neither the skipper , Jorrocks , nor I , had ever left the deck after the gale had begun -- the only exception being Mr Macdougall , who had turned in for a caulk when we were lying-to . Had it not been , however , for the praiseworthy exertions of Pat Doolan , the Irish cook , I do not believe we should have been able to hold out so long . The willing fellow , despite the series of liquid avalanches that were constantly flooding the ship as she took in the green seas over her bows , managed in some wonderful way or other to keep his galley fire alight , supplying us with a grateful cup of hot coffee at intervals through the harassing night ; and , late in the afternoon , when we were all utterly exhausted , he served out to each of us , much to our surprise , a pannikin apiece of the most delicious pea-soup I ever tasted -- `` It was enough , '' as one of the men said on receiving the welcome refreshment , `` to have put life in a post ! ''