ten o’clock
To think of that , when at one 's last gasp ! What a man ! '' Arrived at the summit of the mound , Pencroft and his two companions set to work , with no other tools than their hands , to despoil of its principal branches a rather sickly tree , a sort of marine fir ; with these branches they made a litter , on which , covered with grass and leaves , they could carry the engineer . This occupied them nearly forty minutes , and it was ten o'clock when they returned to Cyrus Harding whom Spilett had not left . The engineer was just awaking from the sleep , or rather from the drowsiness , in which they had found him . The color was returning to his cheeks , which till now had been as pale as death . He raised himself a little , looked around him , and appeared to ask where he was .