He had made one voyage in her from the Gulf to New York, and the steamer had done very well, though she had been greatly improved at the navy yard.

Certainly her motion was better, and the connection between the engine and the inert material of which the steamer was constructed, seemed to be made without any straining or jerking.

There was very little shaking and trembling as the powerful machinery drove her ahead over the quiet sea.

There had been no very severe weather during his first cruise in the Bronx, and she had not been tested in a storm under his management, though she had doubtless encountered severe gales in crossing the Atlantic in a breezy season of the year.
While Christy was planking the deck, four bells were struck on the ship's great bell on the top-gallant forecastle.

It was the beginning of the second dog watch, or six o'clock in the afternoon, and the watch which had been on duty since four o'clock was relieved.