Before he reached the bridge, six bells struck, or three o'clock in the afternoon.

He then ascended the ladder to the bridge.

The fog which the second lieutenant had predicted had not yet enveloped the ship; on the contrary, it looked more like clearing off, and some patches of blue sky could be seen.
"Mr.Lillyworth, you will make the course southeast by east," said Christy, looking at the officer of the deck.
"Southeast by east!" exclaimed the second lieutenant; and his remark needed an exclamation point after it, for though it was customary to repeat an order to make sure that it was understood, he did so in such a tone and in such a manner as to manifest very clearly his astonishment at the nature of the order.

The former course had been south by west.
One thing was fully evident from this surprise--that the officer of the deck gave full faith to the bogus instructions which had been imparted to him by Mulgrum.

He believed that the Bronx was to hasten to the Gulf, as the former course indicated.