noon
Who Goes There ? Jarl 's oar showed sixteen notches on the loom , when one evening , as the expanded sun touched the horizon 's rim , a ship 's uppermost spars were observed , traced like a spider 's web against its crimson disk . It looked like a far-off craft on fire . In bright weather at sea , a sail , invisible in the full flood of noon , becomes perceptible toward sunset . It is the reverse in the morning . In sight at gray dawn , the distant vessel , though in reality approaching , recedes from view , as the sun rises higher and higher . This holds true , till its vicinity makes it readily fall within the ordinary scope of vision .