midnight
he vowed to himself in silent fury , `` never again . It shall be no fault of mine if this miscarry . '' And for the remainder of his watch he stood close by Uncle Ned , and read the face of the compass as perhaps he had never read a letter from his sweetheart . All the time , and spurring him to the more attention , song , loud talk , fleering laughter , and the occasional popping of a cork , reached his ears from the interior of the house ; and when the port watch was relieved at midnight , Huish and the captain appeared upon the quarter-deck with flushed faces and uneven steps , the former laden with bottles , the latter with two tin mugs . Herrick silently passed them by . They hailed him in thick voices , he made no answer ; they cursed him for a churl , he paid no heed although his belly quivered with disgust and rage . He closed-to the door of the house behind him , and cast himself on a locker in the cabin -- not to sleep , he thought -- rather to think and to despair .