noon
His hat of soft felt was decorated with a white ostrich-plume , exquisitely curled and secured by a jewelled clasp , and in his left hand he carried an ivory truncheon tipped with gold , the emblem , doubtless , of his high position in the councils of the Doomsmen . Apparently he was in good-humor this morning ; he chatted animatedly with those nearest to him , and once or twice he even laughed aloud . A trumpet sounded , and , without much pretence at military smartness , the escorting party scrambled into their saddles and the cavalcade moved forward through the north gate and up the Palace Road . By noon at the latest they should return , and preparations immediately began for the feast that was to be given in honor of the long-absent warriors now happily restored to the society of their families and friends . A score or more of wine-casks were rolled out from the public stores and made ready for broaching . In the centre of the square the board flooring had been removed from a huge circular pit that measured twenty feet across by six or eight in depth ; it was lined and bottomed with flat paving-stones . A fire of hard-wood had been burning in it for hours , the preliminary to a gigantic barbecue of fat oxen .