twelve o'clock
Tío Ventolera remembered the stories his father used to tell of the days when Iviza produced corsairs , and when captured vessels were brought into port with captive Moors , both men and and women . The prisoners would be haled before the _ escribano de presas _ , the scrivener of the captives , as evidences of the victory , and he compelled them to swear `` by Alaquivir , by the Prophet and his Koran , with hand and index-finger raised , his face turned toward the rising sun , '' while the fierce Ivizan corsairs , on dividing the booty , set aside a sum for the purchase of linen for binding up their wounds , and left another portion of the loot under pledge for celebration of daily mass by a priest every day while they were absent from the island . Tío Ventolera passed from Riquer to earlier valorous corsair commanders , but Jaime , annoyed by his chatter , ever displaying a desire to overwhelm the island of Majorca , its hostile neighbor , at last grew impatient . `` It 's twelve o'clock , grandfather . Let 's go in ; the fish have quit biting . '' The old man glanced at the sun , which had passed beyond the crest of the Vedrá . It was not yet noon , but it lacked little .