ten o'clock
`` As soon as it was dark , my squad left Hurst by motor-boat and landed near the toll-house at Keyhaven . It was almost dead low water , you know , or we might have been able to save ourselves a long tramp -- you could n't call it a march . `` We followed the wretched footpath , slipping on the slimy mud , and either tumbling over each other or else side-slipping into the morass , which was a jolly sight worse . To make a long story short , we took up our position , which was in the middle of a circular clump of furze within 50 yards of the butts , at ten o'clock . `` There we stuck for nearly two mortal hours , and not so much as a chance of having a cigarette . Of course the men were frightfully keen , and it took me all my time to stop them from chin-wagging . Some of them began to get jumpy , swearing they saw all manner of men and things .