about ten o'clock
-- Now , then , what can you tell me about this business ? '' It was a sad story ; but no sadder than hundreds beside . They had been struck by the gale to the westward two days before , with the wind south ; had lost their foretopmast and boltsprit , and become all but unmanageable ; had tried during a lull to rig a jury-mast , but were prevented by the gale , which burst on them with fresh fury from the south-west , with very heavy rain and fog ; had passed a light in the night , which they took for Scilly , but which must have been the Longships ; had still fancied that they were safe , running up Channel with a wide berth , when , about sunset , the gale had chopped again to north-west ; -- and Tom knew no more . `` I was standing on the poop with the captain about ten o'clock . The last words he said to me were , -- ` If this lasts , we shall see Brest harbour to-morrow , ' when she struck , and stopped dead . I was chucked clean off the poop , and nearly overboard ; but brought up in the mizen rigging . Where the captain went , poor fellow , Heaven alone knows ; for I never saw him after .