four o'clock
It would give us a step all through the regiment ; but then , you see -- '' And he stopped . `` You mean I should be colonel , O'Grady , '' the major said , with a laugh ; `` and you know I should not take things as quietly as he does . Well , you see , there are consolations all round . '' The firing had ceased at four o'clock , and until late that night a large portion of the force were occupied in searching the ground that had been traversed , burying the dead , and carrying the wounded of both nationalities down into the hospital that had been established at Rolica . Sir Arthur determined to march at daybreak , so as to secure the passes through Torres Vedras ; but in the evening a messenger arrived with the news that Anstruther and Acland 's division , with a large fleet of store-ships , were off the coast . The dangerous nature of the coast , and the certainty that , should a gale spring up , a large proportion of the ships would be wrecked , rendered it absolutely necessary to secure the disembarkation of the troops at once . The next morning , therefore , he only marched ten miles to Lourinha , and thence advanced to Vimiera , eight miles farther , where he covered the disembarkation of the troops .