eight o'clock
His strongly-marked features seemed to be drawn by square and rule , and if it be true that in order to guess the instincts of a man one must look at his profile , Barbicane seen thus offered the most certain indications of energy , audacity , and _ sang-froid _ . At that moment he remained motionless in his chair , mute , absorbed , with an inward look sheltered under his tall hat , a cylinder of black silk , which seems screwed down upon the skull of American men . His colleagues talked noisily around him without disturbing him ; they questioned one another , launched into the field of suppositions , examined their president , and tried , but in vain , to make out the _ x _ of his imperturbable physiognomy . Just as eight o'clock struck from the fulminating clock of the large hall , Barbicane , as if moved by a spring , jumped up ; a general silence ensued , and the orator , in a slightly emphatic tone , spoke as follows : -- `` Brave colleagues , -- It is some time since an unfruitful peace plunged the members of the Gun Club into deplorable inactivity . After a period of some years , so full of incidents , we have been obliged to abandon our works and stop short on the road of progress . I do not fear to proclaim aloud that any war which would put arms in our hands again would be welcome -- '' `` Yes , war ! '' cried impetuous J.T. Maston .