Midnight
Their hour on deck had struck , for a final meal was to be served and they went below to finish their duties . That night they were paid off and discharged . The difficulties in the way of inspection and interrogation of Peter Nichols , the alien , were obviated by the simple expedient of his going ashore under cover of the darkness and not coming back to the ship -- this at a hint from the sympathetic Armitage who gave the ex-waiter a handclasp and his money and wished him success . Midnight found Peter and Jim Coast on Broadway in the neighborhood of Forty-second Street with Peter blinking comfortably up at the electric signs and marveling at everything . The more Coast drank the deeper was his cynicism but Peter grew mellow . This was a wonderful new world he was exploring and with two thousand dollars safely tucked on the inside of his waistcoat , he was ready to defy the tooth of adversity . In the morning Peter Nichols came to a decision .