Ten o'clock
Nicholl , with compressed lips , his arms crossed behind his back , walked with a firm and measured step . Michel Ardan , always easy , dressed in thorough traveler 's costume , leathern gaiters on his legs , pouch by his side , in loose velvet suit , cigar in mouth , was full of inexhaustible gayety , laughing , joking , playing pranks with J. T. Maston . In one word , he was the thorough `` Frenchman '' -LRB- and worse , a `` Parisian '' -RRB- to the last moment . Ten o'clock struck ! The moment had arrived for taking their places in the projectile ! The necessary operations for the descent , and the subsequent removal of the cranes and scaffolding that inclined over the mouth of the Columbiad , required a certain period of time . Barbicane had regulated his chronometer to the tenth part of a second by that of Murchison the engineer , who was charged with the duty of firing the gun by means of an electric spark .