midnight
It was at first different from any ordinary breeze . It seemed to come along like a thing of life , now catching up a handful of water and scattering it like sand , then bounding up in wanton sport , and then once more trailing on the waters and making it ripple in lines or lanes , as in mad sport it now more rapidly hurried along . Then , as they looked back over their shoulders to the north-west , they saw coming up the cyclonic cloud . It was dark as midnight , ragged at its edges , and above it was a rim of sky so green and so unnatural that our brave young people for a moment almost recoiled with terror at the sight . `` Paddle for that island ! '' shouted Rachel . `` No canoe can live in such a storm as will soon be on us . ''