midnight
That accomplished , I had no further trouble with her , for her hunger was by this time so sharp that food of any sort became palatable , and we both succeeded in making a fairly good meal . Meanwhile , the bank of cloud that at sunset had been hovering on the verge of the western horizon , had been stealthily creeping zenith-ward , and at the same time spreading out north and south , with a look in it that seemed to portend more wind ; so , as a measure of precaution , I went to work , upon the conclusion of our meal , and shortened sail by taking down a couple of reefs in the mainsail , and a single reef in the little stay foresail which the boat carried . And , this done , I rearranged the royal in the stern-sheets as a bed for my companion , urging her to turn in at once and get as much rest as she could . It was exceedingly fortunate that I had taken the precaution to reef the canvas of our small hooker ; for about an hour or so after sunset -- very shortly , indeed , after the completion of my preparations -- the wind freshened up with quite a touch of spite in it , driving us along at a speed of fully eight knots , and tugging at the mast as though intent on dragging it out of the boat altogether ; the sea , moreover , began to rise and break , and by midnight I was in a bath of perspiration induced by anxiety and the effort to keep the boat ahead of and square end-on to the combers . This condition of excessive and painful anxiety , by the way , was quite a new , as well as decidedly unpleasant , experience for me , and I was deeply mortified and annoyed at the discovery of its influence upon me . I first took myself severely to task about it , and then proceeded to seek for the cause of the trouble . I was at first disposed to attribute it to nerve-shock , induced by the occurrences of the preceding twenty-four hours , but a further analysis of my feelings convinced me that my nerves were still to be depended upon as implicitly as ever , and that the real source of my distress lay at my feet , asleep , wrapped up in a sail .