about nine
o'clock in the morning
This was enough to silence instantly every objector to his proceedings . Henceforth they kept their thoughts to themselves , although some muttered , under their breath such epithets as `` fool '' and `` harebrain . '' In about half an hour after Cosmo 's speech the bell , with its hardy explorers safely inclosed within , was lowered away , and a minute later hundreds were craning their necks over the rails to watch the shining globe engulf itself swiftly in the sapphire depths . It was about nine o'clock in the morning when the descent was begun , and for a long time , so remarkable was the transparency of the water , they could see the bell sinking , and becoming smaller until it resembled a blue pearl . Sometimes a metallic flash shot from its polished sides like a gleam of violet lightning . But at length it passed from view , swallowed up in the tremendous watery chasm . We turn now to trace the adventures of the bell and its inmates as they entered the awful twilight of the ocean , and , sinking deeper , passed gradually into a profundity which the sun 's most powerful rays were unable to penetrate .