midday
To the infinite gratification of everyone on board , it had been discovered at daylight that the schooner had lost touch with us during the hours of darkness -- either through unskillful handling , or from some accidental disadvantage of the variable wind . I had been informed of it , directly I showed myself on deck in the morning , by several men who had radiant grins , as if some great piece of luck had befallen them , one and all . They shared their unflagging attention between the land and the sea-horizon , pointing out to each other , with their tattooed arms , the features of the coast , nodding knowingly towards the open . At midday most of them brought out their dinners on deck , and could be seen forward , each with a tin plate in the left hand , gesticulating amicably with clasp knives . A small white handkerchief hung from Mrs. Williams ' fingers , and now and then she touched her eyes lightly , one after the other . Her husband and Sebright , with a grave mien , stamped busily around the binnacle aft , changing places , making way for each other , stooping in turns to glance carefully along the compass card at the low bluff , like two gunners laying a piece of heavy ordnance for an important shot . The steward , emerging out of the companion , rang a handbell violently , and remained scared at the failure of that appeal .