midnight
And there was something , after all , in the profound silence of the night that , while strange , was also eloquent -- eloquent of meanings , unutterable , such as lie hidden in the scented cups of flowers when lovers gather them on idle summer afternoons and weave them into posies for one another 's wearing . How fleetly the gilded , shell-shaped car sped on its way ! -- trees , houses , bridges , domes , and cupolas , seemed to fly past in a varied whirl of glistening color ! Now and again a cluster of fire-flies broke from some thicket of shade and danced drowsily by in sparkling tangles of gold and green ; here and there from great open squares and branch-shadowed gardens gleamed the stone face of an obelisk , or the white column of a fountain ; while over all things streamed the long prismatic rays flung forth from the revolving lights in the Twelve Towers of the Sacred Temple , like flaming spears ranged lengthwise against the limitless depth of the midnight horizon . With straining necks , tossed manes , and foam flying from their nostrils , Sah-luma 's fiery coursers dashed onward at almost lightning speed , and the journey became a wild , headstrong rush through the dividing air -- a rush toward some voluptuous end , dimly discerned , yet indefinite ! At last they stopped . Before them rose a lofty building , crested with fantastic pinnacles such as are formed by ice on the roof in times of intense cold ; a great gate stood open , and pacing slowly up and down in front of it was a tall slave in white tunic and turban , who , turning his gleaming eyeballs on Sah-luma , nodded by way of salutation , and then uttered a sharp , peculiar whistle .