midnight
He did not want to , of course , but then he was tied to the mast while the mutiny was in progress . On a day like this Pelle felt small in every way . The raging of the sea oppressed him and made him feel insecure , but the others were in their element . They possessed themselves of all the horror of the ocean , and represented it in an exaggerated form ; they heaped up all the terrors of the sea in play upon the shore : ships went to the bottom with all on board or struck on the rocks ; corpses lay rolling in the surf , and drowned men in sea-boots and sou ` westers came up out of the sea at midnight , and walked right into the little cottages in the village to give warning of their departure . They dwelt upon it with a seriousness that was bright with inward joy , as though they were singing hymns of praise to the mighty ocean . But Pelle stood out side all this , and felt himself cowardly when listening to their tales . He kept behind the others , and wished he could bring down the big bull and let it loose among them .