midnight
The shaft was practically whole again , with the exception that a reverse movement would be likely to undo everything , and by scraping the corrugated surfaces of the fractures , render it impossible to do anything of the kind again . Captain Strathmore and his officers stood for a full hour more steadily watching the revolving shaft , and at the end of that time they were satisfied . Then the new acquaintances saluted and bade each other good-by , the officers of the _ Coral _ passing over the rail , and were rowed back to their own vessel , which had followed in the wake of the steamer , as may be said . By this time it was midnight , and the captain returned to his station on the bridge , reflecting to himself that some of the most insurmountable difficulties , apparently , are overcome by the simplest means , and that there are some persons in the world who really seem capable of inventing anything . The hour was so late that all the passengers had retired , and little Inez , as a matter of course , had become invisible long before . She had declared several times that she was going to sit up with the captain , and she tried it , but , like most children under such circumstances , she dropped off into slumber by the time it was fairly dark , and was carried below to the cabin . The child was like so much sunshine flitting hither and thither upon the steamer , and whose presence would be sorely missed when the hour came for her to go .