midday
And so it was that while Algernon Adonis Percival , under the watchful eye of a burly seaman , fell to work scraping the scuppers on the boat deck , the stern business of searching the ship went forward with a thoroughness that left no room for doubt as to the fears and apprehensions of the men who had her in charge . Despite the fact that intensive , anxious hours of delving revealed no hidden , sinister agent of destruction , there was no relaxation on the part of the officers and crew . One by one the passengers were examined ; their rooms and their luggage were systematically overhauled . No one resented these drastic operations , for by midday the whole ship 's company knew what had transpired during the night . Eagerly they answered the questions , cheerfully they submitted to the examination of their effects , and then fell silent and subdued , oppressed by the suspense that hung over the ship like a cloud . Crew and passengers alike underwent the most rigid questioning , the high and the low , the rich and the poor , the young and the old . Early that morning , in fact some time prior to the time that Percival told his story , the wireless operator reported that his transmitter was out of order .