Midnight.—The Forecastle Bulwarks — Moby-Dick

At midnight Stubb and Flask climb onto the forecastle bulwarks in heavy spray. They pass extra lashings over the anchors hanging there. The wind and spray beat against them the whole time while they hammer knots in the dark.

Flask will not let Stubb forget what Stubb said earlier. Stubb once warned that any ship Ahab sails should pay extra insurance, as if it carried powder barrels aft and boxes of lucifers forward. Now Stubb laughs that wet matches cannot catch fire in this drench. He jokes that red-haired Flask is Aquarius the water-bearer and could fill pitchers at his coat collar. He says marine insurance companies have hydrants for extra risk.

Stubb also argues about lightning rods. He asks what difference it makes to hold a rod unless the mast is struck first. Few ships carry rods anyway, he says, and Ahab's crew is no worse off than others. He claims any man with half an eye can be sensible, though Flask says sense is hard when soaked through. They finish the knots, wonder if the world itself swings on a long cable, and watch Stubb's tarpaulin blow overboard into the unmannerly wind. Stubb calls it a nasty night, lad.