midnight
But them greasers is having tough times , '' he grinned . `` Ca n't abide the sea , greasers ca n't , sah . '' Smiling with a grim satisfaction at this last statement , Thurstane gave the man a five-dollar piece , muttered , `` Call me if anything goes wrong , '' and slipped into his narrow dormitory . Without undressing , he lay down and tried to sleep ; but , although it was past midnight , he stayed broad awake for an hour or more ; he was too full of thoughts and emotions to find easy quiet in a pillow . Near him -- yes , in the very next stateroom -- lay the being who had made his life first a heaven and then a hell . The present and the past struggled in him , and tossed him with their tormenting contest . After a while , too , as the plunging of the brig increased , and he heard renewed sounds of disaster on deck , he began to fear for Clara 's safety .