noon
I must go with them , perhaps even guide them . But will this opportunity ever arise ? The human being , robbed of his free will , craves such an opportunity ; but the scientist , forever inquisitive , dreads it . That day , January 21 , 1868 , the chief officer went at noon to take the sun 's altitude . I climbed onto the platform , lit a cigar , and watched him at work . It seemed obvious to me that this man did n't understand French , because I made several remarks in a loud voice that were bound to provoke him to some involuntary show of interest had he understood them ; but he remained mute and emotionless . While he took his sights with his sextant , one of the Nautilus 's sailors -- that muscular man who had gone with us to Crespo Island during our first underwater excursion -- came up to clean the glass panes of the beacon .