nearly midday before
I will go and see if the cook has got some water hot . A glass of spirits will do him good . '' A few minutes later Ralph was wrapped up in a blanket and the warm glow produced by that and the glass of strong grog soon sufficed to send him soundly to sleep , in spite of the painful uncertainty of his position and of his sorrowful thought of his mother , who would in the morning be inquiring for him in vain . It was nearly midday before he woke . Looking round he saw that he had the forecastle to himself . His clothes were lying on a chest close by , and in a few minutes he was on deck . A sense of disappointment stole over him .