about eleven o'clock
`` If you feel a sudden chill in the air , and see something white , stop the engine at once and call for me . '' When the _ Porpoise _ had been put in shape for the night , and the company , tired out from their labors over a general `` house cleaning '' which Captain Henderson had insisted on , went to bed , Washington took his place in the conning tower . It was quite cold , but as the temperature for several days past had been steadily falling , nothing was thought of it . `` I guess I 'll git out my fur-lined sealskin coat , '' said the colored man to himself as he felt the chill night air , that seemed to increase in frigidity along about eleven o'clock . He went to the cabin to get his overcoat , and , returning on deck prepared to spend the rest of his hour of watch in ease and comfort . He stretched out on the bench in the conning tower , noted that the machinery was working right and that the proper course was being steered , and then he let his thoughts drift to the many adventures he and his employer had gone through of late , and also while on the trip `` Through the Air to the North Pole . '' Washington gave one frightened , startled look , in a few minutes , so comfortable had he fixed himself , but happening to look forward through the glass-covered porthole of the tower , he saw something that made the cold chills run down his back .