midnight
Where is the sinner ? '' -- Dalton desired Springall to show him to the room of Mother Hays . The Buccaneer offered no comment on the fray , for he had often observed that little good arises from lecturing people for their faults at the very time you want their services . He explained to them briefly but fully , and with as much clearness and wisdom as if he had been for hours in deliberation , the danger by which they were encompassed ; the more than fear for their ship -- that they themselves were in the most perilous situation they had ever experienced , clogged by the land , and not free on the sea : that as the evening was fast closing in , and the moon did not rise until near midnight , their enemies could do little until after the lapse of a few hours -- that those who wished , might disperse themselves along the shore , and escape to Sussex , or any other smuggling station , as they best could ; sending intimation to their friends as to their movements : and he was the more particular in giving this permission , as to each and every one had been distributed full pay and profits ; -- that those who loved the Fire-fly , and would risk their lives for her , or with her , were to conceal themselves along the coast , and ere the moon rose , make their way a-board . This they could easily effect under the thick darkness , and in so calm a night . There was not one who could not steer a plank , in quiet water , from Essex to Sheerness ; and in default of that , they were all good swimmers . `` And now , my brave fellows , '' he added , `` I may , or I may not , meet you on the deck , where I have so often trod and triumphed .