noon
Bits of shattered metal were in the oiling system , and they had partly blocked the stream of lubricant until the engine heated badly . And each time the vibration had shifted them , or loosened them ... . They had left the big amphibian no earlier than nine o'clock . It was noon when they took off for the _ fazenda _ of Paula 's kin . But it was five o'clock and after when they rose from there with an engine which might run indefinitely and might stop at any second . Bell did not really expect it to run for a long time . He had worked as much to cheat Ribiera of the satisfaction of a victory as in hopes of a real escape .