twelve o'clock
What startling monitions of the uncertainty of life ! ' '' `` Peace , Kaiser Maximilien , peace ! '' cried Browne , `` and let the Professor proceed to fix our longitude . '' `` The first thing , '' resumed Arthur , `` is to plant a straight stick upright in the ground ; when it casts no shadow east or west it is twelve o'clock _ here _ . My watch will then show what time it is at the Kingsmills : if it shows an earlier hour there , we must be east of them ; if a later hour , then we are west of them . '' `` I think I understand that , '' said Johnny ; `` the next thing is to tell how far east or west we are . '' `` That is quite easy .