ten
o'clock
Often he found himself traversing narrow trails on the brink of black space where a single misstep would have brought his career to a sudden termination . Again he passed through gloomy tunnels of dense foliage , slid down precipitous banks , only to plunge into rushing , bowlder-strewn torrents at the bottom , and scramble up slopes of slippery clay on the farther side , All this was done by the feeble and ever-lessening light of a moon in its first quarter , and as it finally sank out of sight the leader of the escort called a halt , declaring that they could not move another rod before daybreak . Thus Ridge was forced to take a few hours of rest , and so exhausted was he that his companions had difficulty in rousing him at dawn . Again they pushed forward , shivering in the chill of early morning , and blistered by the sun 's fervent heat a few hours later , until ten o'clock found them on the grass-grown highway leading from Santiago to Bayamo , and a few miles west of Enramada . Here , as Ridge believed himself to be well in advance of his comrade , he decided to await his coming . At the same time he sent one of his escort into Enramada to discover if Lieutenant Navarro had by any chance reached that place , and to arrange for fresh mounts . Then he threw himself down in the scant shadow of a thorny bush for a nap .