about
ten o'clock in the evening
There were only fifty of the enemy ; the soldiers and the police could in a few hours be mobilized to rush them and kill them all . But could that be done ? The thing had so many weird aspects , the invaders still seemed so much in the nature of the supernatural , that Mr. Dorrance advised caution . The enemy was now -- this was about ten o'clock in the evening -- quietly gathered in the little field on the ridge-top . They seemed , with their first attack over , no longer offensive . But , if assailed , who could say what they would do ? * * * * * And a thousand unprecedented things to do were pressing upon the harassed officials .