midnight
he told himself at one time after he had received instructions to draw a bit further toward the open gulf , as he was approaching some point of land jutting into the water , and thus making a shoal possibly covered with coon-oysters , on which he was apt to pull up hurriedly with disastrous results , `` this here is like flyin ' blind at a five thousand-foot ceilin ' , -- Jack , he c 'n see the land by usin ' the night glasses , so it 's a good thing I c 'n get tips from him right along . Gee ! this sure is gettin ' some monotonous , keepin ' this old motor hummin ' when it 's on the blink so bad . Must be a wheen past midnight , I 'd say , an ' we ought to be clost to them Ten Thousand Islands by now . '' He had been keeping close watch on the stars and although making no claims to being a first-class woodsman , Perk could tell the time of night by the heavenly bodies setting one after another , which would account for his late confident assertion that morning could not be so very far distant . Once only during all this time did Perk happen to see a far distant light out at sea . It interested him more or less and naturally caused him to speculate as to whether it might have any connection with the great game in which he and Jack were now engaged .