Ten minutes past the hour of nine
Carry on ! For the life of America ! Carry on ! * * * * * Ten minutes past the hour of nine . A full thousand miles behind the lines , on the wide black field of America 's major war base , a small group of men stood , surveying the awesome weapons assembled there . Row upon row of huge , dully-gleaming cigar-shaped things stretched away into the darkness before them . There were only one or two faint lights to give illumination , and the night choked in on them , making them terrifying .