midnight
The wind fell in the afternoon , and the cutter dropped her anchor as the tide was running against her . At night Jack Stilwell and the others who had accepted their fate slept with the troops on board instead of returning to rejoin their companions in the hold . Jack was extremely glad of the change , as there was air and ventilation , whereas in the hold the atmosphere had been close and oppressive . He was the more glad next morning when he found that the wind , which had sprung up soon after midnight , was freshening fast , and was , as one of the sailors said , likely to blow hard before long . The cutter was already beginning to feel the effect of the rising sea , and toward the afternoon was pitching in a lively way and taking the sea over her bows . `` You seem to enjoy it , young un , '' the sergeant said as Jack , holding on by a shroud , was facing the wind regardless of the showers of spray which flew over him . `` Half our company are down with seasickness , and as for those chaps down in the fore hold they must be having a bad time of it , for I can hear them groaning and cursing through the bulkhead .