seven o'clock in the evening
`` All right ! '' said Captain Dinks as cheerfully as if the matter were of no moment to him ; `` we 'll see ! But we must first observe the tide and the ship 's position on the rocks ; I think we 'll be able to decide those points before the other matter can be settled , by a long way ! '' When the _ Nancy Bell _ struck , it had been close upon six bells in the second dog-watch -- seven o'clock in the evening -- the entire afternoon having passed away so rapidly while those on board were anxiously watching the struggle of the vessel against the wind and sea in her endeavours to weather the cape , that , in their intense excitement as they awaited the denouement which would solve all their hopes and fears , they took no heed of the flight of time . It seemed really but a few brief minutes , instead of hours , from the period when Captain Dinks had taken the sun at noon to the terrible moment of the catastrophe . Now , it was midnight , or approaching to it , the intervening period having glided by much more speedily through the fact of everybody having been engaged in doing something towards the common safety of all . Not even the lady passengers had been exempted from the task , Mr Meldrum having told Kate to go below and collect whatever she saw in the cabins that might be of use to them on the island ; while Mrs Negus , dropping her dignity for once , cordially assisted .