midnight
There was a thrilling suddenness about it that appealed to one 's imagination . Here I had been expecting a landsman 's bed , with a book and a reading-lamp , surrounded by the friendly security of houses ; instead , I was to go faring with the night wind into the mystery of the sea . It was a night of fitful moonlight , and Nassau , with its white houses and white streets , seemed very hushed and spectral as I made my way down to the wharf , vivid in black and silver . There is always something mysterious about starting a journey at night , even though it be nothing more out-of-the-way than catching a midnight train out of the city ; and the simple business of our embarkation breathed an air of romantic secrecy . The moon seemed to have her finger on her lip , and we talked in lowered voices as though we were bound on some midnight raid . The night seemed to be charged with the expectancy of the unknown , and Sailor , who , of course , was to be a fellow-voyager , whined restlessly from the wharf side at the little yawl that awaited us in the whispering , lapping water . Sailor had watched his master getting his guns ready for some days , and , doubtless , memories stirred in him of Scotch moors they had shot over together .