six in the evening
cried Michel Ardan . `` Only , I would have you observe , my worthy friend , '' replied Barbicane , `` that we are none the less lost for that . '' `` Yes , in another manner , and much more pleasantly , '' answered the careless Frenchman with his most amiable smile . At six in the evening the projectile passed the south pole at less than forty miles off , a distance equal to that already reached at the north pole . The elliptical curve was being rigidly carried out . At this moment the travelers once more entered the blessed rays of the sun . They saw once more those stars which move slowly from east to west .