nearly eleven o'clock
The whistle of a distant train , the sound of church clocks , the street cries of a town -- these were Kosmaroff 's degrees of latitude . `` We are getting near , '' he said , in little more than a whisper . `` What is the time ? '' It was nearly eleven o'clock . If they got past the frontier they would sweep through Thorn before mid-night . The river narrows here , and goes at a great pace . It is still of a vast width -- one of the largest rivers in Europe .