midnight
There were two chances left to him . One was that he could find some other method of escape , the other was that his chums would come to his rescue when he failed to return at the appointed hour of sundown . At any rate , he would wait until the last minute before trying his desperate scheme . LeBlanc , he knew , would be gone the greater part of the night , for they did not plan to start until almost midnight for Lafe Green 's house . The long day dragged on and he got hungry and thirsty . No one came again , evidently one meal was all that he was to have . Presently he decided that it must be past sundown , and he lay down on the blanket , and before he knew it dropped off to sleep .