about four o'clock in the morning
And it seemed to Ingmar as if great bells were ringing in a holy day . Within reigned Sabbath peace and stillness , while love , honey sweet , rested upon his lips , filling his whole being with a blissful solace . One misty night in the summer of 1880 -- about two years before the schoolmaster 's mission house was built and Hellgum 's return from America -- the great French liner _ L'Univers _ was steaming across the Atlantic , from New York and bound for Havre . It was about four o'clock in the morning and all the passengers , as well as most of the crew , were asleep in their berths . The big decks were entirely empty of people . Just then , at the break of day , an old French sailor lay twisting and turning in his hammock , unable to rest . There was quite a sea on , and the ship 's timbers creaked incessantly ; but it was certainly not this that kept him from falling asleep .