noon
Hannah , the servant , lay stretched at the bottom of the boat , her head supported by the ballast-bags , in a state too miserable to describe ; while James Hawke , the lad who was to accompany them in their long voyage , had sunk into a state of happy unconsciousness , after having vainly wished , for the hundredth time , that he was safe on shore , scampering over the village green with his twelve brothers and sisters , and not tempting the angry main in an open boat , with the windows of heaven discharging waters enough upon his defenceless head to drown him -- without speaking of the big waves that every moment burst into the boat , giving him a salt bath upon a gigantic scale . After an hour 's hard rowing , the _ King William _ -LRB- for so their boat was called -RRB- , cast anchor in the roadstead , distant about eight miles from the town , and lay to , waiting for the coming-up of the steamer . Hours passed away , -- the day wore slowly onward , -- but still the vessel they expected did not appear . The storm , which had lulled till noon , increased in violence , until it blew `` great guns , '' to use the sailors ' nautical phraseology ; and signs of uneasiness began to be manifested by the hardy crew of the pilot-boat . `` Some accident must have befallen the steamer , '' said Palmer , the captain of the boat , to Craigie , a fine , handsome young seaman , as he handed him the bucket to bale the water from their vessel . `` I do n't like this ; I 'll be -- -- if I do ! If the wind increases , and remains in the present quarter , a pretty kettle of fish it will make of us .