six o'clock
About ten minutes later they saw the crowd over in the other side of the field scattering , and then the _ Clarion _ shot up into the air . In a few minutes it was pointed down the coast and making good headway . Our friends were not quite ready , but when the other machine was a mere speck against the southwestern sky , they hopped off themselves , with Paul at the throttle . Not one of the party had any doubt but that they could catch their rivals before the latter should arrive at Para , where they were due at six o'clock that evening . It needed only that first stage of the journey from Panama to Georgetown to show them that they had either the speediest craft or the most skillful crew . Paul mounted to a height of about two thousand feet , then let the Sky-Bird straighten out in the direction of their next stop . He opened up the throttle little by little , and the machine rapidly gained momentum .