noon
`` Well , sir , I hardly know what to make of it , '' was the reply . `` Mr Fidd and I have been comparing notes together ; the boatswain has been a long time on this station , as perhaps you know , sir , and he says he does n't half like the looks of it ; in fact , he remarked to me not five minutes ago that he would n't be surprised to find that a hurricane is brewing . Have you looked at the glass lately , sir ? '' `` Not since noon , '' said I ; `` it was pretty steady then , with a slight tendency to drop , it is true , but nothing to speak of . Let us see what it says now ? '' We turned to the open sky-light and looked down through it . The barometer was , for convenience , hung in the sky-light so that it might be consulted with equal facility either from the deck or the cabin , and a single glance sufficed to show us that the mercury had fallen a full inch since the instrument had been set in the morning .