midnight
The conversation of that night weighed heavily on the heart of the lover , and he could not summon sufficient resolution to part -- perhaps for months -- with such an apparent breach between him and his hopes . As soon as it was known , therefore , that the lugger was far enough at sea to be out of sight from the boat of Clinch , she came by the wind on the larboard tack again , heading up toward the celebrated ruins of Paestum , on the eastern shore of the Bay of Salerno . To one accustomed to the sea , there would not have seemed sufficient wind to urge even that light craft along at the rate with which she glided through the water . But the land breeze was charged with the damps of midnight ; the canvas was thickened from the same cause ; and the propelling power had nearly double its apparent force . In an hour after hauling up , le Feu-Follet tacked , quite eight miles distant from the spot where she altered her direction , and far enough to windward to lay her course in directly for the cliffs beneath the village of St. Agata , or the present residence of Ghita . In proceeding thus , Raoul had a double intention before him . English ships were constantly passing between Sicily , Malta , and Naples ; and , as those bound north would naturally draw in with the land at this point , his position might enable him to strike a sudden blow , with the return of day , should any suitable vessel be in the offing next morning .