midnight
Twilight was now falling , and by the time darkness had settled over the blue waters of the gulf the steamer was plowing her way steadily northward , Berbera but faintly visible in the rear by the glow of the burning torches . Hour after hour they steamed on . Neither Guy nor Melton could sleep , but sitting aft on camp stools they talked in whispers of the dread events they had witnessed , and of what might be before them . At midnight the steamer came to a sudden stop . The machinery , exerted to the highest pressure , had broken in some part . A delay was inevitable , the captain assured them , but in a couple of hours the repairs could be made . Morning came , revealing the distant yellow line of the African coast , but still the steamer lay at anchor , rocking gently in the early morning breeze .