about eight o’clock in the
morning
It appeared to be very deep , and , as it were , puffed out . It was , in reality , a conglomeration of smaller clouds . The latter invariably retained their original formation , and from this circumstance the doctor concluded that there was no current of air in their collected mass . This compact body of vapor had appeared about eight o'clock in the morning , and , by eleven , it had already reached the height of the sun 's disk . The latter then disappeared entirely behind the murky veil , and the lower belt of cloud , at the same moment , lifted above the line of the horizon , which was again disclosed in a full blaze of daylight . `` It 's only an isolated cloud , '' remarked the doctor . `` It wo n't do to count much upon that . ''