twelve o'clock
`` You are a bit too cautious , Adams . When you have sailed the _ Nancy Bell _ as long as I have you 'll know what she 's able to carry and what she is n't ! '' With these pregnant words of wisdom , the captain resumed possession of his sextant and proceeded to take the altitude of the sun , shouting out occasional unintelligible directions the while through the skylight to Mr McCarthy , who was in his cabin below , so that he might compare the position of the solar orb with Greenwich time as marked by the chronometer . Then telling Adams at the end of the operation to `` make it eight bells , '' whereupon the tinkling sounds denoting twelve o'clock were heard through the ship , he himself also hurried below , to `` work out his reckoning . '' On Captain Dinks coming up again , he reported that the _ Nancy Bell _ had done better than he expected for her `` first day out , '' considering the adverse circumstances she had had to contend with , for she had logged more than a hundred and fifty miles ; but he did not look quite so jubilant as he had done before going below , nor did McCarthy , who now accompanied him on deck to relieve the second mate , whose watch had expired . `` What 's the matter , captain ? '' asked Mr Meldrum , with a smile , `` are you not satisfied ; or , did you expect the ship to have done more ? ''