midnight
Though one may strain one 's ears to the utmost , nothing is to be heard but the occasional tinkling of a cow-bell , the lowing of cattle and the desultory note of birds . It is the perfect quiet which Nature alone can give ; and it so impressed Hamar that he at once decided that this was the very spot essential for the ceremony of initiation into the Black Art . The locality selected , the night had next to be chosen -- and the conditions demanding that on the night of the initiation there must be a new moon , cusp of seventh house , and conjoined with Saturn , in opposition to Jupiter , -LSB- 16 -RSB- Hamar and his confederates had to wait exactly three weeks , from the date of the conclusion of the tests , before they could proceed . Shortly before midnight , on the spot already described , Hamar , Curtis and Kelson met ; and , after searching thoroughly amongst the trees and bushes in the vicinity of the amphitheatre to make sure no one was in hiding , they commenced operations . On a perfectly level piece of ground a circle of seven feet radius was clearly defined . This circle was cut into seven sectors ; and an inner circle from the same centre and with a radius of six feet was next drawn . In each part of the sectors , between the circumferences of the first and second circle , were inscribed , in chalk , the names of the seven principal vices -LRB- according to Atlantean ideas -RRB- , and the seven most malignant diseases .