Ten o'clock
`` Our friend is quite right , and , so far as the canal is concerned , the United States _ is _ not in it , '' added the commander , laughing at the turn the conference had taken . `` How far have we gone so far , Captain ? '' asked Miss Blanche . `` Ten o'clock , '' he replied , consulting his watch . `` We have been moving at this snail 's pace for five hours , and made twenty-five miles , or forty kilometres . In five more we shall come to El Kantara , where the caravan route from Egypt into Asia crosses the canal . '' `` Do the camels have to swim across the canal ? ''