midnight
As a matter of course , at that distance both craft seemed on fire ; and when le Feu-Follet had dropped a hundred yards nearer to the frigate , leaving the felucca blazing , the two were so exactly in a line as to bring them together as seen from the former 's decks . The English expected every moment to hear the explosion of the lugger 's magazine ; but , as it did not happen , they came to the conclusion it had been drowned . As for Griffin , he pulled in-shore , both to avoid the fire of le Feu-Follet , in passing her broadside , and in the hope of intercepting Raoul while endeavoring to escape in a boat . He even went to a landing in the river quite a league from the anchorage , and waited there until long past midnight , when , finding the night beginning to cloud over and the obscurity to increase , he returned to the frigate , giving the smouldering wreck a wide berth for fear of accidents . Such , then , was the state of things when Captain Cuffe appeared on deck just as the day began to dawn on the following morning . He had given orders to be called at that hour , and was now all impatience to get a view of the sea , more particularly in-shore . At length the curtain began slowly to rise , and his view extended further and further toward the river , until all was visible , even to the very land .