the hour of twelve
With such reflections he closed his eyes , and sunk to his slumbers . The Chalmetta moved lazily on her course . Her lights had all been extinguished , and the idlers , who a few hours before had paced the decks , were now slumbering in their berths , or on the cabin floor . The clock over the clerk 's office indicated the hour of twelve . On the main deck forward the sleepy firemen were languidly supplying the furnaces ; the engineers , less actively employed , had fallen asleep by the cylinders . On the after quarter , laying flat upon the deck , were two men earnestly engaged in conversation , in which the whispered brogue of Pat Fegan might have been detected . After the conversation had continued some time , one of them cautiously raised his head , as if to penetrate the gloom that enshrouded them .