nearly midnight
It was impossible to see to the bottom of the valley , where the dusk had rolled up like a sea , but , as the night was still , they felt sure they could hear anyone climbing up the peak . In order to make themselves more comfortable they spread their blankets at the very brink , and lay down upon them , thus being able to repose , and at the same time watch without the risk of inviting a shot . Young Lennox knew that the attack , if it came at all , would not come until late , and restraining his naturally eager and impatient temper , he used all the patience that his strong will could summon , never ceasing meanwhile to lend an attentive ear to every sound of the night . He heard the wind rise , moan a little while in the gorge and then die ; he heard a fitful breeze rustle the boughs on the slopes and then grow still , and he heard his comrades move once or twice to ease their positions , but no other sound came to him until nearly midnight , and then he heard the fall of a pebble on the slope , absolute proof to one experienced as he that it had been displaced by the incautious foot of a climbing enemy . The rattling of the pebble was succeeded by a long interval of silence , and the lad understood that too . The warriors , to whom time was nothing , fearing that suspicion had been aroused by the fall of the pebble , would wait until it had been lulled before resuming their advance . They would flatten themselves like lizards against the slope , not stirring an inch .