two o'clock
We found the three men sitting patiently in silence . With manlike fortitude they were content to be still when they felt they had done all in their power . And so we waited . The striking of two o'clock seemed to freshen us all up . Whatever shadows had been settling over us during the long hours preceding seemed to lift at once ; and we went about our separate duties alert and with alacrity . We looked first to the windows to see that they were closed , and we got ready our respirators to put them on when the time should be close at hand . We had from the first arranged to use them for we did not know whether some noxious fume might not come from the magic coffer when it should be opened .