midnight
So one night , the 20th of October it was -- I remember it well enough , better than I remember any day since ; it was a dirty night , blowing half a gale of wind from the southward , and we were under close-reefed top-sails -- I had the first watch , and at nine o'clock I sent him down to my cabin to sleep there , where he would be fresher and quieter , and I was to turn into his hammock when my watch was over . I was on deck three hours or so after he went down , and the weather got dirtier and dirtier , and the scud drove by , and the wind sang and hummed through the rigging -- it made me melancholy to listen to it . I could think of nothing but the youngster down below , and what I should say to his poor old uncle if anything happened . Well , soon after midnight I went down and turned into his hammock . I did n't go to sleep at once , for I remember very well listening to the creaking of the ship 's timbers as she rose to the swell , and watching the lamp , which was slung from the ceiling , and gave light enough to make out the other hammocks swinging slowly altogether . At last , however , I dropped off , and I reckon I must have been asleep about an hour , when I woke with a start . For the first moment I did n't see anything but the swinging hammocks and the lamp ; but then suddenly I became aware that some one was standing by my hammock , and I saw the figure as plainly as I see any one of you now , for the foot of the hammock was close to the lamp , and the light struck full across on the head and shoulders , which was all that I could see of him .