midnight
But let me come closer to this part of my story . During what are called at sea the `` dog-watches '' -LRB- between four o'clock and eight in the evening -RRB- , sailors are quite lively and frolicsome ; their spirits even flow far into the first of the long `` night-watches ; '' but upon its expiration at `` eight bells '' -LRB- midnight -RRB- , silence begins to reign ; if you hear a voice it is no cherub 's : all exclamations are oaths . At eight bells , the mariners on deck , now relieved from their cares , crawl out from their sleepy retreats in old monkey jackets , or coils of rigging , and hie to their hammocks , almost without interrupting their dreams : while the sluggards below lazily drag themselves up the ladder to resume their slumbers in the open air . For these reasons then , the moonless sea midnight was just the time to escape . Hence , we suffered a whole day to pass unemployed ; waiting for the night , when the star board-quarter-boats ' - watch , to which we belonged , would be summoned on deck at the eventful eight of the bell . But twenty-four hours soon glide away ; and `` Starboleens ahoy ; eight bells there below ; '' at last started me from a troubled doze . I sprang from my hammock , and would have lighted my pipe .