midnight
It made a palette of the imagination , sticky and crude . He began to desire the green plantations of St. Croix , and more than ever he longed for the snow-fields of the north . Two days of hard work concluded Mr. Cruger 's business , and on the thirtieth of the month he weighed anchor , in company with many others , and set sail for St. Croix . He started under a fair breeze , but a mile out the wind dropped , and he was until midnight making the harbour of Christianstadt When they were utterly becalmed the sun seemed to focus his hell upon the little sloop . It rolled sickeningly in the oily wrinkled waters , and Alexander put his Pope in his pocket . The sea had a curious swell , and he wondered if an earthquake were imminent . The sea was not quite herself when her foundations were preparing to shake .