an hour after midnight
Every eye -- excepting perhaps Percival 's and the helmsman 's -- was accordingly directed anxiously to the dark frowning mass which stood out indistinctly from the dark background of land , and which every moment grew more and more vague and undefined , expecting to see the lurid line of fire blaze out from the darkness once more . But minute after minute passed by , the frigate drawing out from the land all the while , and the breeze freshening with every fathom of additional distance , until nothing could be discerned , even with the aid of our night-glasses , but the feeble glimmer of the lanterns showing through the port-holes ; and presently these abruptly disappeared : the battery was shut in by a projecting point of land and _ we had escaped _ . The moment that this agreeable fact became known the crew with one accord gave three hearty cheers , the skipper himself for the nonce laying aside his usual _ sang-froid _ and leading off . The guns were secured , a liberal allowance of grog served out , and then , late as it was -- about half an hour after midnight -- all hands turned-to to repair damages . Once fairly at sea and out of reach of the enemy 's shot , we had time to take a look at ourselves and realise the extent of our damages . When passing over the same ground a few hours before , the `` Juno '' presented as pretty a picture as a nautical connoisseur could wish to see , with her hull recently painted , every spar in its place , and adjusted there to a nicety , her rigging in perfect order , and her white sails -- the new look just worn off them , and barely stretched into their proper shape -- without a blemish or fault to mar their perfect appearance . _ Now _ , she passed out to sea with her fore and main-topgallant-masts and mizen - topmast hanging over the side , the fore-topsail-yard down on the cap , the spankerboom shot away in the jaws , the flying-jib-stay and halliards cut through and the sail towing alongside , her canvas riddled with shot - holes , ends and bights of ropes streaming out in the wind everywhere aloft , and two 36-pound shot in her side .