About five o'clock
That was evident , but perhaps that would not have been the case in a supposedly rigidly parabolical trajectory -- a new problem which tormented Barbicane 's brain , imprisoned as he was in a circle of unknowns which he could not unravel . Neither of the travelers thought of taking an instant 's repose . Each one watched for an unexpected fact , which might throw some new light on their uranographic studies . About five o'clock , Michel Ardan distributed , under the name of dinner , some pieces of bread and cold meat , which were quickly swallowed without either of them abandoning their scuttle , the glass of which was incessantly encrusted by the condensation of vapor . About forty-five minutes past five in the evening , Nicholl , armed with his glass , sighted toward the southern border of the moon , and in the direction followed by the projectile , some bright points cut upon the dark shield of the sky . They looked like a succession of sharp points lengthened into a tremulous line . They were very bright .