4:30
The concealed lighting that spilled from the huge bowl under the ceiling revealed a sleeping-porch , three sides of which were fine-meshed copper screen . The fourth side was the house wall , solid concrete , through which French windows gave access . He pressed the second button in the row and the bright light concentered at a particular place on the concrete wall , illuminating , in a row , a clock , a barometer , and centigrade and Fahrenheit thermometers . Almost in a sweep of glance he read the messages of the dials : time 4:30 ; air pressure , 29:80 , which was normal at that altitude and season ; and temperature , Fahrenheit , 36 ° . With another press , the gauges of time and heat and air were sent back into the darkness . A third button turned on his reading lamp , so arranged that the light fell from above and behind without shining into his eyes . The first button turned off the concealed lighting overhead .