four o'clock in the
afternoon
Crane was to observe the stars during the second and to drive during the third . DuQuesne was to act as observer during the first and third periods . Margaret had volunteered to assist the observer in taking his notes during her waking hours , and Dorothy appointed herself cook and household manager . As soon as the Skylark had left Osnome , Crane told DuQuesne that he and his wife would work in the observation room until four o'clock in the afternoon , at which time the prearranged system of relief would begin , and DuQuesne retired to his room . Crane and Margaret made their way to the darkened room which housed the instruments and seated themselves , watching intently and making no effort to conceal their emotion as first the persons beneath them , then the giant war-vessels , and finally the ruined city itself , were lost to view . Osnome slowly assumed the proportions of a large moon , grew smaller , and as it disappeared Crane began to take notes . For a few hours the seventeen suns of this strange solar system shone upon the flying space-car , after which they assumed the aspect of a widely-separated cluster of enormous stars , slowly growing smaller and smaller and shrinking closer and closer together .