ten o'clock
The whole scene was far more impressive by night than by day , -- the great earth mounds of Babylon looked like giant graves inclosing a glittering ring of winding waters . Again he examined the imbedded fragment of the ancient gate , -- and then feeling quite certain of his starting-point he set his face steadily toward the southwest , -- there the landscape before him lay flat and bare in the beamy lustre of the moon . The soil was sandy and heavy to the tread , -- moreover it was an excessively hot night , -- too hot to walk fast . He glanced at his watch , -- it was a few minutes past ten o'clock . Keeping up the moderate pace the heat enforced , it was possible he might reach the mysterious field about half-past eleven , . . perhaps earlier .