midnight
In that spirit they snugged everything on board the schooner and prepared to defy the storm . It came in the night , with a howl of blast and a fusillade of sleet like bird-shot . It stamped upon the throbbing sea and made tumult in water and air . At midnight they were wallowing with only a forestays ' l that was iced to the hardness of boiler plate . But though the vast surges flung their mighty arms in efforts to grasp the schooner , she dodged and danced on her nimble way and frustrated their malignity . Her men did not sleep ; they thawed themselves in relays and swarmed on deck again . Each seemed to be animated by personal and vital interest .