noon
And twelve days were none too long to sail from this unidentifiable naked sea-stretch to the nearest possible port where beer could be purchased . The steward , once his mind was made up , wasted no time . The clock marked a quarter before twelve when he climbed up out of the lazarette , replaced the trapdoor , and hurried to set the table . He served the company through the noon meal , although it was all he could do to refrain from capsizing the big tureen of split-pea soup over the head of Simon Nishikanta . What did effectually withstrain him was the knowledge of the act which in the lazarette he had already determined to perform that afternoon down in the main hold where the water-casks were stored . At three o'clock , while the Ancient Mariner supposedly drowned in his room , and while Captain Doane , Grimshaw , and half the watch on deck clustered at the mast-heads to try to raise the Lion 's Head from out the sapphire sea , Dag Daughtry dropped down the ladder of the open hatchway into the main hold . Here , in long tiers , with alleyways between , the water-casks were chocked safely on their sides .