ten o'clock
MacWilliams called Kirkland to the office at the other end of the Company 's wire , and explained the situation to him . He was instructed to run an engine and freight-cars to a point a quarter of a mile north of the fort , and to wait there until he heard a locomotive whistle or pistol shots , when he was to run on to the fort as quickly and as noiselessly as possible . He was also directed to bring with him as many of the American workmen as he could trust to keep silent concerning the events of the evening . At ten o'clock MacWilliams had the steam up in a locomotive , and with his only passenger-car in the rear , ran it out of the yard and stopped the train at the point nearest the cars where ten of the ` Vesta 's ' crew were waiting . The sailors had no idea as to where they were going , or what they were to do , but the fact that they had all been given arms filled them with satisfaction , and they huddled together at the bottom of the car smoking and whispering , and radiant with excitement and satisfaction . The train progressed cautiously until it was within a half mile below the fort , when Clay stopped it , and , leaving two men on guard , stepped off the remaining distance on the ties , his little band following noiselessly behind him like a procession of ghosts in the moonlight . They halted and listened from time to time as they drew near the ruins , but there was no sound except the beating of the waves on the rocks and the rustling of the sea-breeze through the vines and creepers about them .