midnight
At one end is a mighty revolving drill operated by an engine which Perry said generated more power to the cubic inch than any other engine did to the cubic foot . I remember that he used to claim that that invention alone would make us fabulously wealthy -- we were going to make the whole thing public after the successful issue of our first secret trial -- but Perry never returned from that trial trip , and I only after ten years . I recall as it were but yesterday the night of that momentous occasion upon which we were to test the practicality of that wondrous invention . It was near midnight when we repaired to the lofty tower in which Perry had constructed his `` iron mole '' as he was wont to call the thing . The great nose rested upon the bare earth of the floor . We passed through the doors into the outer jacket , secured them , and then passing on into the cabin , which contained the controlling mechanism within the inner tube , switched on the electric lights . Perry looked to his generator ; to the great tanks that held the life-giving chemicals with which he was to manufacture fresh air to replace that which we consumed in breathing ; to his instruments for recording temperatures , speed , distance , and for examining the materials through which we were to pass .