five in the afternoon
They say the ladies gave their silk dresses for it . Here 'll be a strip of purple and here one of white with roses on it , and here it is black , and here it is yellow as gold . They melted rubber car-springs in naphtha and varnished it with that , and they 're going to fill it with city gas at the gas works -- '' The bubbles floated in the clear air , above and beyond the zone of smoke . It was now between four and five in the afternoon . The slant rays of the sun struck them and turned them mother-of-pearl . An old man lifted a dry , thin voice like a grasshopper 's . `` Once I went to Niagara , and there was a balloon ascension .