midnight
When I asked the Second he says , ` Oh Hell , I ca n't stop to show ye now . Take a hand-lamp and go and see the run o ' the pipes yerself . ' I was nearly dropping for sheer sleepiness , but I made up my mind I would not give in . At breakfast time the Chief said we 'd missed a tide and could n't get away till midnight , and I thanked God . But it 's a funny thing about a steamer , that the more time you have the more work there is to do . We had stores to get stowed away , and as soon as that was done a steam-pipe split on the fore-deck and we had to go in the rain and patch it . I did n't know where things were ; I did n't know the names of things ; I did n't know how they should be done .