midnight
His shrill voice sounded , as his huge height towered , above all others ; every eye was fixed on his black face and flashing eyes and teeth , while his example carried away all his followers to imitate it . His shouts of command made the scene of the fire like a battle-field ; the Moslems , so ably led , regardless of life as they were and ready to strain and exert their strength to the utmost , wrought wonders in the name of their God and His Prophet . The Egyptians , too , did their best ; but they felt themselves impotent by comparison with what these Arabs did , and they hardly felt anything but the disgrace of being over-mastered by them . The light shone far across the country ; even he whose splendid inheritance was feeding the flames perceived , between midnight and dawn , a glow on the distant western horizon which he was unable to account for . He had been riding towards it for about half an hour when the caravan halted at the last station but one , on the high road between Kolzum and Babylon . -LSB- Suez , and the Greek citadel near which Amru founded Fostat and Cairo subsequently grew up . -RSB- A considerable troop of horse soldiers dismounted at the same time , but Orion had not summoned these to protect him ; on the contrary , he was in their charge and they were taking him , a prisoner , to Fostat .