about noon
Which of the citizens could it be that was watching by that light which he saw glimmering down there in unwonted brightness ? -- till he himself , overpowered by fatigue , fell asleep . The light in the town , which had attracted Paulus , was in Petrus ' house , and burnt in Polykarp 's room , which formed the whole of a small upper-story , which the senator had constructed for his son over the northern portion of the spacious flat roof of the main building . The young man had arrived about noon with the slaves he had just procured , had learned all that had happened in his absence , and had silently withdrawn into his own room after supper was ended . Here he still lingered over his work . A bed , a table on and under which lay a multitude of wax-tablets , papyrus-rolls , metal-points , and writing-reeds , with a small bench , on which stood a water-jar and basin , composed the furniture of this room ; on its whitewashed walls hung several admirable carvings in relief , and figures of men and animals stood near them in long rows . In one corner , near a stone water-jar , lay a large , damp , shining mass of clay .