ten minutes past
nine
`` It seems queer , '' observed Frank , `` to be flying an aeroplane , that has been through so many tropical adventures , in the frozen regions of the south pole . '' `` It does , indeed , '' said the professor , who , with Billy Barnes , had obtained permission to accompany the boys . Captain Hazzard , himself , would have come but that he and Captain Barrington had determined to make surveys of the ice surrounding the Southern Cross , in order to decide whether the ship had a speedy chance of delivery from her frozen bondage . The Golden Eagle shot into the icy air at exactly ten minutes past nine on the morning of the 28th of September . It was a perfect day , with the thermometer registering 22 above zero . So accustomed had they become to the bitter cold of the polar winter that even this low temperature seemed oppressive to the boys , and they wore only their ordinary leather aviation garments and warm underclothes . A plentiful supply of warm clothing was , however , taken along in case of need .