midnight
The new cradle of mankind will be located near the old one , and the roses of the Vale of Cashmere will canopy it . '' Cosmo Versál 's words made a profound impression upon his hearers , and awoke thoughts that carried their minds off into strange reveries . No more questions were asked , and gradually the assemblage broke up into groups of interested talkers . It was now near midnight . Cosmo , beckoning Professor Abel Able , Professor Alexander Jones , and Professor Jeremiah Moses to accompany him , made his way out of the saloon , and , secretly opening one of the gangway doors , they presently stood , sheltering themselves from the pouring rain , in a position which enabled them to look toward New York . Nothing , of course , was visible through the downpour ; but they were startled at hearing fearful cries issuing out of the darkness . The rural parts of the city , filled with gardens and villas , lay round within a quarter of a mile of the ark , and the sound , accelerated by the water-charged atmosphere , struck upon their ears with terrible distinctness .