Nine o'clock
`` If my presentiments do not deceive me , '' said Major Noltitz , `` there is some reason for it . '' What does he mean ? But the bell of the tender , the tender bell , begins its joyous appeal . Nine o'clock ; it is time to go into the dining car . Caterna comes near me , and I hear him singing : `` It is the turret bell , Which sud-denly is sounding . '' While Madame Caterna replies to the trio of the _ Dame Blanche _ by the refrain of the _ Dragons de Villars _ : `` And it sounds , sounds , sounds , It sounds and resounds -- '' The passengers move in a procession , the four witnesses first , then the guests from the end of the village -- I mean of the train ; Chinese , Turkomans , Tartars , men and women , all curious to assist at the ceremony . The four Mongols remain on the last gangway near the treasure which the Chinese soldiers do not leave for an instant .