midnight
Should the venture fail , everything would be over ; but if it succeeded , the old man could only praise the courage and skill with which it had been executed . Nothing was to be feared from the coast guard , for since Abus 's death the authorities believed that piracy had vanished from these waters , and the ships commanded by Satabus and his sons had been admitted from Pontus into the Tanite arm of the Nile as trading vessels . While Hanno was discussing these considerations , he rowed the boat past the landing place from which the `` garden '' with the Alexandrian 's tent could be seen . The third hour after midnight had begun . Smoking flames were still rising from the pitch pans and blazing torches , and long rows of lanterns also illumined the broad space . It was as light as day in the vicinity of the tent , and Biamite huntsmen and traders were moving to and fro among the slaves and attendants as though it was market time . `` Your father , too , '' Hanno remarked in his awkward fashion , `` will scarcely make life hard for us .