four o'clock
A hundred yards she went and then stopped headway with a jerk as the men slipped the cables over the bitts . The collision had not hurt the tug apparently , although there was no telling whether or not the jolt had weakened her structurally . But Dan was not the man to worry about eventualities . An hour 's straining and hauling resulted in bringing the yacht 's head full into the seas , and then at four o'clock Dan snuggled his craft to , for the long eleven hours ' fight . The afternoon waned into twilight , softly , impalpably , and the twilight wavered into night . A few lights quivered from the reeling yacht and her mast-head lamps described glimmering arcs against the heavens . Silent and grim , the tug took the brunt of all the seas had to give -- nose piercing the very heart of the waves , splitting them with beautiful precision , rising , falling , reeling , pitching , but , through all , hanging to the yacht with undying tenacity .