twenty-five minutes past eight
If that were so , what was the sun doing in the southeast at this time of the day ? It had hardly budged a point from the quarter in which some fitful gleams shone when that mad thing happened near the windlass . Thinking he was still dizzy from the effects of the blow , which the girl had ascribed to the bursting of a shell , Philip glanced at his watch . It was twenty-five minutes past eight ! Yet he distinctly remembered eight bells being struck while Coke was telling him from the bridge to give the anchor thirty-five fathoms of cable . Was it possible that they had gone through so much during those few minutes ? If he were really light-headed , then sun and clouds and watch were conspiring to keep him so .