noon
`` There 's some kind of land over there . '' The wind freshened while they were at breakfast and using more gas so as to raise them higher Tom directed the course of his airship as best he could . He wanted to get high enough so that if they passed over a city they would not be observed . At noon it could be seen through the glass that they were over the outskirts of some large place , and after the Russian had taken an observation he exclaimed : `` The environs of Paris ! We must not land there ! '' `` We wo n't , if the wind holds out , '' remarked Tom and this good fortune came to them . They succeeded in landing in a field not far from a small village , and though several farmers wondered much as the sight of the big airship , it was thought by the platinum-seekers that they would be comparatively safe .