midnight
But Michael never sailed out of Tulagi , nigger-chaser on the _ Eugenie _ . Once in five weeks the steamer _ Makambo _ made Tulagi its port of call on the way from New Guinea and the Shortlands to Australia . And on the night of her belated arrival Captain Kellar forgot Michael on the beach . In itself , this was nothing , for , at midnight , Captain Kellar was back on the beach , himself climbing the high hill to the Commissioner 's bungalow while the boat 's crew vainly rummaged the landscape and canoe houses . In fact , an hour earlier , as the _ Makambo 's _ anchor was heaving out and while Captain Kellar was descending the port gang-plank , Michael was coming on board through a starboard port-hole . This was because Michael was inexperienced in the world , because he was expecting to meet Jerry on board this boat since the last he had seen of him was on a boat , and because he had made a friend . Dag Daughtry was a steward on the _ Makambo _ , who should have known better and who would have known better and done better had he not been fascinated by his own particular and peculiar reputation .