midnight
He told Rodney to go with him , and he would try what could be done for him . They went into a sailors ' boarding-house , and got something to eat . Then the man , -- who said his name was Bill Seegor , and that he must call him Bill , and not Mister , nor sir , -- took him with himself into a ball-room . Here he saw a great many sailors and bad women , who danced together , and laughed , and shouted , and cursed , and drank , until long past midnight . Rodney had never witnessed _ such _ a scene . He had never heard such filthy and blasphemous language , nor seen such indecent behavior . `` Come , my lad , '' said a bluff sailor to him ; `` if you mean to be a man , you must learn to toss off your glass .