nine
o'clock
By nightfall it had disappeared . The stars came out and the crescent moon hung near the western horizon . Both destroyers had again turned north , the two craft having drawn in within half a mile of each other . Dave , after a two-hour nap , went to the bridge at about two bells -- nine o'clock . He had been there some ten minutes , chatting with Ensign Ormsby in low tones , when of a sudden he broke off , listening intently . `` Sounds like distant firing , sir , two points off the port bow , '' hailed one of the bow lookouts . In a silence , broken only by the wash of the waters and the jar of the engines , distant rumbling sounds were again heard .