midnight
Arrived ashore , Captain Murphy hurried to the cable office , registered his cable address , borrowed a code book and sent a code telegram to his owner . Then , having subsidized the operator liberally to rush it , Michael J. Murphy set out for a stroll among the limited attractions of Pernambuco . His cablegram would get through in two hours at the very most , and though the captain figured the Blue Star offices would be closed when the message reached San Francisco , still he was not discouraged . He knew the cable company always telephoned to Mr. Skinner , at his home , all Blue Star and Ricks Lumber & Logging messages arriving after office hours and before midnight . Naturally Skinner could be depended upon to have a copy of the code at home , and if he did n't Murphy knew he would rush down to the office , no matter what the hour , and decode it there . Of course he would cable his reply immediately , in which event it might be that the captain would have an answer shortly after midnight or by breakfast at the latest . He decided , therefore , to return to the cable office about midnight and await the reply to his cablegram .