midnight
The Athenian opened his eyes , and gazed from his place of concealment behind the thick branching stem of the olive on a strange and striking scene . The moon , full and round , had just risen , but the foliage of the trees as yet obscured most of her light , as her silver lamp hung near the horizon , casting long black shadows over the earth . Several forms were moving about in the faint gleam , apparently engaged in some work which needed concealment , for none of them carried a torch . Lycidas , himself silent as the grave , watched the movements of those before him with a curiosity which for a time so engrossed his mind as to take away all sense of personal danger , though he soon became aware that the intrusion of a stranger on these mysterious midnight proceedings would not only be unwelcome , but might to himself be perilous . The group of men assembled in that retired spot were evidently Hebrews , and as the eyes of Lycidas became accustomed to the gloom , and the ascending moon had more power to disperse it , he intuitively singled out one from amongst them as the leader and chief of the rest . Not that his tunic and mantle were of richer materials than those of his comrades ; plain and dusty with travel were the sandals upon his feet , and he wore the simple white turban which a field-labourer might have worn . But never had turban been folded around a more majestic brow , and the form wrapped in the mantle had the unconscious dignity which marks those born to command .