About one
o'clock
Upon the recommendation of the scouts I determined to defer making an attack until after three o'clock , for they assured me that at that time the enemy would be feeling quite secure from pursuit and be in their deepest sleep . The horses were picketed , guards posted , and a lunch distributed , and all not on duty lay down to wait . Time dragged slowly . About one o'clock a noise on the opposite side of the creek attracted attention , and Cooler crept away in the darkness to ascertain its cause . In half an hour he returned with the information that the party of Mezcalleros who had taken the northern trail had rejoined their friends and turned their animals into the general herd . Upon learning this I despatched a messenger to call in the six men sent to guard the defile . When the time for starting arrived one man only was left with the picketed horses , and the rest of us slipped down the slope to the river-bottom , taking care not to rattle arms and equipments , and began a slow advance along a narrow pathway , the borders of which were lined with the spiked vegetation of the country .