noon
The costume of the latter perplexed him ; indeed , not until that person , in obedience to the order , erected himself to his full stature upon the landing , was he assured of his sex . They were the Princess Irene and Sergius the monk . The conversation between them in the Homeric palace has only to be recalled to account for their presence . Departing from Therapia at noon , according to the custom of boatmen wishing to pass from the upper Bosphorus , they had been carried obliquely across toward the Asiatic shore where the current , because of its greater regularity , is supposed to facilitate descent . When the storm began to fill the space above Alem Daghy , they were in the usual course ; and then the question that had been put to the Prince of India was presented to the Princess Irene . Would she land in Asia or recross to Europe ? The general Greek distrust of the Turks belonged to her .