noon
`` I 'm glad to hear that , '' remarked Mr. Jenks . `` It would be too bad to be wrecked before we got to Phantom Mountain . '' `` Well , I predict that we will have a bad storm , '' insisted Mr. Parker , and Tom could not help wishing that the scientist would keep his gloomy forebodings to himself . However the storm had not developed up to noon , when Tom , with Mr. Damon 's help , served a fine meal in the dining-room . In the afternoon the speed of the ship was increased , and by night they had covered several hundred miles . Through the darkness the Red Cloud kept on , making good time . Tom got up , occasionally , to look to the machinery , but it was all automatically controlled , and an alarm bell would sound in his stateroom when anything went wrong .