about midnight
I made my way over to the hatch and found I could reach the combing with my hands , so I pulled myself up , after a mighty hard tussle . Try it some time with your hands tied ! `` Most of the pirates were forward in their bunks , but one who was keeping watch on deck took pity on me and gave me a couple of biscuits and a swig of water . He was more or less talkative , besides , and from him I learned that Daggs planned to start about midnight for your side of the island , carrying buckets of pitch and tinder , so as to roast you out . `` As you may imagine , this kind of talk nearly turned me sick with fear , and right in the midst of it Pharaoh Daggs came on deck . `` He had that empty sort of glare in his eyes that we used to see sometimes when he was drunk . Of course , he walked straight and even , but as he came over toward us , with his teeth showing and his eyes fixed on a point just above the pirate 's shoulder , I almost yelled ` Look out ! '