about midnight
There was no diminution in her speed . She shot like a rocket over the towns and villages so numerous in northern France . She was flying straight on to Paris , and after Dunkirk came Doullens , Amiens , Creil , Saint Denis . She never left the line ; and about midnight she was over the `` city of light , '' which merits its name even when its inhabitants are asleep or ought to be . By what strange whim was it that she was stopped over the city of Paris ? We do not know ; but down she came till she was within a few hundred feet of the ground . Robur then came out of his cabin , and the crew came on to the deck to breathe the ambient air .