midnight
`` Then till midnight we must wait . No , Monsieur Phinuit , I will not be hurried . I have been thinking , I am still thinking , and there is still much to be said before I can come to any decision that will be fair to you , mademoiselle , the captain on the one hand , myself on the other . '' `` But at midnight , if the skipper 's promise holds good , we 'll be going ashore . '' `` The objection is well taken . My answer will be communicated when we see land or at eleven o'clock to-night , whichever is the earlier event . '' Some further effort at either persuasion or impudence -- nobody but Phinuit ever knew which -- was drowned out by the first heart-broken bellow of the whistle sounding the fog signal .