noon
Down , still down sank _ Nissr _ , now beginning to circle in broad , descending spirals , seeking where she might land . The roar of the propellers lessened ; and at the same time , the increasing hum of the helicopters made itself heard , counterbalancing the loss of lifting power of the planes , yet gradually letting the air-liner sink . Came , too , a sighing hiss of the air-intakes as the vacuum-floats filled . High noon was now at hand . The sun burned , a copper ball , in the very forehead of a turquoise sky . A light breeze , lazying over the plain , stirred the fronded tufts of the date-palms ' thick plantations . Beyond a massy grove , stretching for nearly two miles out from the northernmost gate of the city , a grassy level quite like a parade-ground invited the liner to rest .