midnight
And by evening they saw the silver spires of slender Bombasharna , a city that was the glory of the coast . And in the midst of it , far away though they were , they saw the palace of the Queen of the South ; and it was so full of windows all looking toward the sea , and they were so full of light , both from the sunset that was fading upon the water and from candles that maids were lighting one by one , that it looked far off like a pearl , shimmering still in its haliotis shell , still wet from the sea . So Captain Shard and his pirates saw it , at evening over the water , and thought of rumours that said that Bombasharna was the loveliest city of the coasts of the world , and that its palace was lovelier even than Bombasharna ; but for the Queen of the South rumour had no comparison . Then night came down and hid the silver spires , and Shard slipped on through the gathering darkness until by midnight the piratic ship lay under the seaward battlements . And at the hour when sick men mostly die , and sentries on lonely ramparts stand to arms , exactly half-an-hour before dawn , Shard , with two rowing boats and half his crew , with craftily muffled oars , landed below the battlements . They were through the gateway of the palace itself before the alarm was sounded , and as soon as they heard the alarm Shard 's gunners at sea opened upon the town , and before the sleepy soldiery of Bombasharna knew whether the danger was from the land or the sea , Shard had successfully captured the Queen of the South . They would have looted all day that silver sea-coast city , but there appeared with dawn suspicious topsails just along the horizon .