about ten o'clock at night on the
11th of January
We , of course , lifted up Reginald , and hurried as fast as we could down to the boat . Harry , as he deserved , gained great credit for the way he had behaved , for he had undoubtedly saved Reginald 's life ; and , in consideration of his wound , the captain forgave Reginald for having left the ship without leave . I never had a fancy for fighting on shore , and I was not sorry when we were ordered to Malta , to bring away a party of Maltese marines , engaged to serve on board the fleet . We had light and unfavourable winds going , and , on returning with the soldiers aboard , we met with a succession of strong contrary gales from the eastward , and a lee current , which prevented us from arriving abreast of the harbour 's mouth till about ten o'clock at night on the 11th of January . The captain , not wishing to run the risk of being thrown to leeward , considering the number of men we had on board , determined to sail into the harbour at once . We had no pilot , but the master felt confident that he could take the ship in without risk . The hands were at their stations , and the captain ordered Harry and another midshipman to go forward with night-glasses and look out for the fleet .