nearly noon
Amen . '' Amen ! as with chorus of many waters and mighty thunderings the sound swept onward , and died far off in chiming echoes among the distant stars , and the man awoke . It is now nearly noon , the busiest and most bustling hour of the day ; yet the streets of the Holy City seem deserted and silent as the grave . The artisan has left his bench , the merchant his merchandise ; the throngs of returned wanderers which this great national festival has brought up from every land of the earth , and which have been for the last week carrying life and motion through every street , seem suddenly to have disappeared . Here and there solitary footfalls , like the last pattering rain drops after a shower , awaken the echoes of the streets ; and here and there some lonely woman looks from the housetop with anxious and agitated face , as if she would discern something in the far distance . Alone , or almost alone , the few remaining priests move like white-winged , solitary birds over the gorgeous pavements of the temple , and as they mechanically conduct the ministrations of the day , cast significant glances on each other , and pause here and there to converse in anxious whispers .