noon
The veteran intriguer even laughed , thinking how cunningly he had provided against contingencies . But there was a present practical requirement begotten of these schemes -- he must have money -- soldans by the bag full . Very early in the morning of the fifth day , having studied the weather signs from his housetop , he went with Nilo to the harbor gate of Blacherne , seeking a galley suitable for an outing of a few days on the Marmora . He found one , and by noon she was fitted out , and with him and Nilo aboard , flying swiftly around Point Serail . Under an awning over the rudder-deck , he sat observing the brown-faced wall of the city , and the pillars and cornices of the noble structures towering above it . As the vessel was about passing the Seven Towers , now a ruin with a most melancholy history , but in that day a well-garrisoned fortress , he conversed with the master of the galley . `` I have no business in the strict meaning of the term , '' he said , in good humor .