midnight
A round and tumbled mass , blue-black but attended by a copper-colored rack , detached itself from a shelf-like stratum of cloud , and elongating , seemed to descend to the surface of the sea . Daylight went out instantly and a prolonged moan came from the distant east . Blinding flashes of lightning illuminated the whirling mass and almost absolute darkness fell after each bolt . Out of the inky midnight toward the east came an ever-increasing sound of a maddened sea , gathering in volume and fury and menace . Kenkenes flung himself on his face and waited . He did not have long to wait . With a noise of mighty rending , reinforced by a continuous roll of savage thunder , the storm struck .