midnight
There she was , coming directly for them , with squared yards ! The distance was short , or a vessel could not have been seen by that light , and the two craft were soon near each other . A gun was actually cleared on board the steamer , ere it was ascertained that the stranger was the schooner ! It was now midnight , and nothing was in sight but the coasting brig. Reluctantly , the revenue people gave the matter up ; the Molly Swash having again eluded them , though by means unknown . `` Leander dived for love , Leucadia 's cliff The Lesbian Sappho leap 'd from in a miff , To punish Phaon ; Icarus went dead , Because the wax did not continue stiff ; And , had he minded what his father said , He had not given a name unto his watery bed . '' Sands . We must now advance the time several days , and change the scene to a distant part of the ocean ; within the tropics indeed .