nearly midnight
The Captain did not turn in that night . In anxious expectation he waited and watched on deck , while all around there was the very blackness of darkness . Brandon began to see from the Captain 's manner that he expected something far more violent than any thing which the ship had yet encountered , but , thinking that his presence would be of no consequence , he retired at the usual hour . The deep , dense calm continued until nearly midnight . The watchers on deck still waited in the same anxious expectation , thinking that the night would bring on the change which they expected . Almost half an hour before midnight a faint light was seen in the thick mass of clouds overhead -- it was not lightning , but a whitish streak , as though produced by some movement in the clouds . All looked up in mute expectation .