midnight
The party of ladies rose from the table , and leaving the men -- all except the captain of the `` Rosalie '' and Mr. Mouse , who would have remained had he not seen a shake of the broad pennant 's finger -- went into the saloon . Then there was a brilliant prelude on the piano , a touch of a guitar by stronger fingers , an air from an opera , a song or two , much conversation -- while Reefer Mouse slept on the sofa -- and coffee . Then it was late ; every one was fatigued , _ bon soirs _ were said , and the party -- coffee and all -- separated . `` In slumbers of midnight the sailor-boy lay , His hammock swung loose at the sport of the wind ; But watch-worn and weary , his cares flew away , And visions of happiness danced o'er his mind . '' `` And how the sprites of injured men Shriek upward from the sod ; Ay ! how the ghostly hand will point To show the burial clod ; And unknown facts of guilty acts Are seen in dreams from God ! '' In a great square room , standing , as usual , on cocoa-nut stilts , which had once been used for a billiard-room , were half a dozen iron-framed cots , ranged along the walls , in which some of the Escondido 's guests were to bivouac .