four o'clock
The room 's walls bulged like a gas balloon in the process of sudden inflation . Then came a new sound like the rattle of musketry , as the spray from a sea struck the wall of the house . Captain Lynch looked at his watch . It was four o'clock . He put on a coat of pilot cloth , unhooked the barometer , and stowed it away in a capacious pocket . Again a sea struck the house , with a heavy thud , and the light building tilted , twisted , quarter around on its foundation , and sank down , its floor at an angle of ten degrees . Raoul went out first .