ten o'clock in the morning
What followed Gladys and I gathered afterwards , just before the dreadful thing happened . We were all safe enough on land , but , it became evident to the sailors with us that the ship could not weather the storm unless she weighed anchor and stood out to sea . The crew watched with eager eyes to see what my father would do . Manifestly he was in too much distress of mind about us to go right away , and I suppose he preferred to trust to the strength of his cables : `` Shortly after ten o'clock in the morning , however , the ship began to drag her anchors , and in spite of all that could be done by my father and his officers , the shapely little vessel gradually drifted on to the coral reefs . All this time Gladys and I , quite ignorant of seamanship and everything pertaining to it , were watching the doomed ship , and from time to time asked anxiously what was the meaning of all the excitement . The men returned us evasive answers , like the kind-hearted fellows they were , and cheered us up in every possible way . Presently we heard signals of distress -LRB- only we did n't know they were signals of distress then -RRB- , and our companions saw that the captain realised only too well his terribly dangerous position .