midnight
There was a hissing roar as of a thousand rockets , and even as Rebecca was wondering , half stunned , why she saw so many jumping lights , Si Pray gazed open-mouthed at the ascension of a mysterious dark body apparently aimed at the sky . The Panchronicon had started . It was long after their bed-time and the two sisters were utterly exhausted ; but as the mysterious structure within which they lay glided northward between heaven and earth with the speed of a meteor , Rebecca and Phoebe long courted sleep in vain . The excitement of their past adventures , the unreal wonder of their present situation , the bewildering possibilities and impossibilities of their future plans -- all these conspired to banish sleep until long past midnight . It was not until , speeding due north with the unswerving obedience of a magnet , their vessel was sailing far above the waters of the upper Saguenay , that they at length sank to rest . They were awakened next morning by a knocking upon Rebecca 's door . `` It 's pretty nigh eight-thirty , '' Droop cried .