midnight
Enter now swiftly before some prowling priest happens upon you , and pray that you may come out as sound as you go in . Oh ! what a sight ! A prince of Israel and an aged Levite of established reputation going to keep a tryst at midnight with the high-priestess of Baaltis in the sanctuary of her god ! Nay , answer not ; there is no time '' -- and he was gone . ***** Having passed the gate , Aziel and Issachar crept down the winding passages of stone , groping their path by such light as fell from the narrow line of sky above them , till at length they reached the court of the sanctuary . Here the place was as silent as death , for the noise from the city without could not pierce its towering walls of massive granite .