midday
My anxiety beheld them as plainly as anything seen with the eyes of the body . And , with my sharpened hearing catching every word with preternatural distinctness , I felt as if , the ring of Gyges on my finger , I had sat invisible at the council of my enemies . It was noisy , animated , with an issue of supreme interest for us . The ship , seen at midday standing inshore with a light wind , had not approached the bay near enough to be conveniently attacked till just after dusk . They had waited for her all the afternoon , sleeping and gambling on the spit of sand . But something heavy in her appearance had excited their craven suspicions , and checked their ardour . She appeared to them dangerous .