midnight
`` If he once got on that line of latitude and kept sailing west without turning one way or the other , he would be bound to keep on it . '' `` That 's exactly it ! '' said Mr. Burke . '' 'T was pretty near midnight when we started off to run along the forty-eighth parallel , but I kept my eyes on the man at the wheel and on the compass , and I let them know that that ship was under the command of an able-bodied seaman who knew what he was about , and if they skipped to one side of that line or to the other he would find it out in no time . `` I went below once to take a nap , but , as I promised the fellow at the wheel ten shillings if he would keep her head due west , and told him he would be sure to wake me up if he did n't , I felt certain we would n't skip the line of latitude . `` Well , that steamer , which was called the _ Duke of Dorchester _ , and which was a vessel of not more than a thousand tons , was n't much of a sailer , or perhaps they was saving coal , I do n't know which , and , not knowing how much coal ought to be used , I kept my mouth shut on that point ; but I had the log thrown a good deal , and I found that we never quite came up to ten knots an hour , and when we took an observation at noon the next day , we saw that we had n't quite done the hundred miles ; but a little before one o'clock we did it , and then I ordered the captain to stop the engine and lay to . `` There was a brig about a mile away , and when she saw us layin ' to , she put about and made for us , and when she was near enough she hailed to know if anything was the matter .