about eight o’clock
In fact , they were scarcely more than a mile from Mostaganem , and in the course of an hour , when they had all recovered from the bewilderment occasioned by the shock , they started off in a body and made their way to the town . It was a matter of extreme surprise to find no symptom of the least excitement anywhere as they went along . The population was perfectly calm ; every one was pursuing his ordinary avocation ; the cattle were browsing quietly upon the pastures that were moist with the dew of an ordinary January morning . It was about eight o'clock ; the sun was rising in the east ; nothing could be noticed to indicate that any abnormal incident had either transpired or been expected by the inhabitants . As to a collision with a comet , there was not the faintest trace of any such phenomenon crossing men 's minds , and awakening , as it surely would , a panic little short of the certified approach of the millennium . `` Nobody expects us , '' said Servadac ; `` that is very certain . '' `` No , indeed , '' answered Ben Zoof , with a sigh ; he was manifestly disappointed that his return to Mostaganem was not welcomed with a triumphal reception .