three in the morning
I had before regarded my promise with a gloomy despair , as a thing that , with whatever consequences , must be fulfilled ; but I now felt as if a film had been taken from before my eyes , and that I , for the first time , saw clearly . The idea of renewing my labours did not for one instant occur to me ; the threat I had heard weighed on my thoughts , but I did not reflect that a voluntary act of mine could avert it . I had resolved in my own mind , that to create another like the fiend I had first made would be an act of the basest and most atrocious selfishness ; and I banished from my mind every thought that could lead to a different conclusion . Between two and three in the morning the moon rose ; and I then , putting my basket aboard a little skiff , sailed out about four miles from the shore . The scene was perfectly solitary : a few boats were returning towards land , but I sailed away from them . I felt as if I was about the commission of a dreadful crime , and avoided with shuddering anxiety any encounter with my fellow-creatures . At one time the moon , which had before been clear , was suddenly overspread by a thick cloud , and I took advantage of the moment of darkness , and cast my basket into the sea ; I listened to the gurgling sound as it sunk , and then sailed away from the spot .