Noon
In no previous siege of the Byzantine capital was there reference to such a preliminary step . To the newly enlisted , viewing for the first time an enemy bodily present , it seemed like the world being pared down to the smallest dimensions ; while their associate veterans , to whom they naturally turned for comfort , admitted an appreciable respect for the Sultan . Either he had a wise adviser , they said , or he was himself a genius . Noon -- and still the workmen seemed inexhaustible -- still the rampart grew in height -- still the hordes out on the campania multiplied , and the horizon line west of the Gate St. Romain was lost in the increasing smoke of a vast bivouac . Nightfall -- and still the labor . About midnight , judging by the sounds , the sentinels fancied the enemy approached nearer the walls ; and they were not mistaken . With the advent of the second morning , here and there at intervals , ill-defined mounds of earth were seen so much in advance of the intrenched line that , by a general order , a fire of stones and darts was opened upon them ; and straightway bodies of bowmen and slingers rushed forward , and returned the fire , seeking to cover the mound builders .