noon
Then the men awoke again , apparently somewhat refreshed by their day 's rest , and we went to supper . The fact that Dumaresq and I had been working at the oars all through the scorching day , while they had been sleeping , seemed to awaken a sense of shame in some of them ; and after supper they took to the oars of their own accord , announcing their determination to rest henceforth through the day , and to work all night , a plan which I was at once compelled to admit had much to recommend it . And so , while the men pulled pretty steadily on through the night , Dumaresq and I took watch and watch at the tiller . Another breathless morning dawned ; we went to breakfast , and the men then lay down to sleep , as on the previous day , while Dumaresq and I laboured at the oars until noon , when the gallant young Frenchman was compelled to give up , declaring that he could not pull another stroke , even though his life depended upon it . I could , of course , do nothing single-handed ; so after dinner we all lay down together , and the sleep of utter exhaustion soon fell upon me . When I next awoke the men were already astir and getting their supper ; and it appeared to me , from the look in their faces , that they would have been better pleased had Dumaresq and I remained asleep . After supper they threw out their oars , and the Frenchman and I sat together in the stern-sheets , moodily discussing the situation , and marvelling at our strange ill-fortune in having sighted but one solitary sail ever since the destruction of the Indiaman .