nearly midnight before
Sam found an ample supply of tobacco and pipes , and the four of us passed the early evening undisturbed smoking and talking together . The fellows were not uninteresting as I came to know them better , and Carr , who I learned had been transported three years before for robbery , having at one time been a soldier , was prolific of reminiscences , which he related with true Irish wit . Sam contented himself with asking me numerous questions relative to the Duke of Monmouth , whose effort to attain the throne interested him greatly , and I very gladly gave him all the information I possessed . So the time passed quickly , and it must have been nearly midnight before we brought out blankets from the forecastle , and lay down in any spot we chose on deck . It was a fair , calm night , but moonless , with but little wind stirring , and a slight haze in the air , obscuring the vision . The windows of the great house above , which earlier in the evening had blazed with lights , were now darkened , and the distant sounds of voices and laughter had entirely ceased . The only noise discernible as I lay quiet was the soft lapping of waves against the side of the sloop or about the piling supporting the wharf to which we were moored .