noon
Not only merchants and smugglers , adventurers and speculators , flocked to Helgoland , but diplomatists , politicians , and patriots found on the rocky island a refuge and convenient point , where they might meet their brethren and reunite kindred hearts . The members of the great secret league hastened from the north and the south of Europe to Helgoland , to hold meetings there , concert plans , and communicate to each other what they had succeeded in accomplishing . On one of the last days in September , 1812 , an unusual commotion prevailed on the island . It was noon , and yet more than two hundred ships had arrived and cast anchor . All the stores were open and the goods displayed ; brokers and speculators elbowed themselves in busy haste through the multitude of merchants , owners of ships , smugglers , and sailors , that filled the whole upper part of the island , offering goods for sale in all languages ; and among them were to be seen the beautiful girls of Helgoland , dressed in their strange costume , and carrying in baskets and on plates all sorts of delicacies , for which they sought purchasers . At a distance from the throng stood three men , who paid but little attention to the merry , excited crowd . They were closely wrapped in cloaks , with their hats drawn over their foreheads , and looked steadfastly upon the sea .