ten o'clock
Finally every piece was loaded , ten rounds for each were brought on deck , the covers were put on , and the hands were piped down . It was my eight hours in that night ; and by this time it had come to be a regular custom and a recognised thing for me to dine in the saloon on such occasions , that is to say , every other night , the arrangement with regard to Kennedy being similar , so that he and I dined in the saloon on alternate nights , the doctor , the purser , and the two engineers forming the other guests . Thus as soon as our exercise with the guns was over I rushed off below , took a tepid bath , and then dressed for dinner , completing my preparations just in time to respond to the second bugle call . There was some disposition to make merry over Kennedy 's `` scare '' , as the boy Julius would persist in designating it ; but as the lad was the only one who seemed to regard the matter purely from the jocular point of view , the conversation was soon steered in another and more agreeable direction , and we spent a very pleasant evening , breaking up shortly after ten o'clock . Before retiring to my cabin I went up on deck to take a look round . It was a most glorious night , still a breathless calm , the heavens perfectly clear , save for a low cloud bank hanging over the land , the stars shining brilliantly , and a half-moon shedding a soft , mysterious radiance upon the scene powerful enough to enable us to distinguish with tolerable clearness the nearer islands and some half a dozen craft lying becalmed within two miles of us , inshore . The moon would set about midnight ; yet even then we should still have the stars , if the night remained clear .