nine o'clock
replied Benedict ; `` but , as I have already seen a tzetsy in America , I do not despair of having the satisfaction of discovering white ants there too . You do not know the sensation I shall make in Europe when I publish my folio volume and its illustrations . '' It was evident that no inkling of the truth had yet entered poor Benedict 's brain , and it seemed likely that it would require demonstration far more striking than any natural phenomena to undeceive the minds of such of the party as were not already in possession of the fatal secret . Although it was nine o'clock , Cousin Benedict went on talking incessantly , regardless of the fact that one by one his audience were falling to sleep in their separate cells . Dick Sands did not sleep , but neither did he interrupt the entomologist by farther questions ; Hercules kept up his attention longer than the rest , but at length he too succumbed to weariness , and his eyes and ears were closed to all external sights and sounds . But endurance has limits , and at last Cousin Benedict , having worn himself out , clambered up to the topmost cell of the cone , which he had chosen for his dormitory , and fell into a peaceful slumber . The lantern had been already extinguished .