nine P.M.
He was a merchant captain , not a warrior . Meantime the _ Agra _ had already shown him great sailing qualities : the log was hove at sundown and gave eleven knots ; so that with a good breeze abaft , few fore-and-aft rigged pirates could overhaul her . And this wind carried her swiftly past one nest of them , at all events : the Ladrone isles . At nine P.M. , all the lights were ordered out . Mrs. Beresford had brought a novel on board , and refused to comply ; the master-at-arms insisted ; she threatened him with the vengeance of the Company , the premier , and the nobility and gentry of the British realm . The master-at-arms , finding he had no chance in argument , doused the glim -- pitiable resource of a weak disputant -- then basely fled the rhetorical consequences . The northerly breeze died out , and light variable winds baffled the ship .