midnight
`` Not exactly , sir , but I thought I saw three or four of them sneaking along near the woods . '' `` Humph ! You should be sure of what you are doing , Jackson . It is not commendable to arouse the whole camp at midnight for nothing . '' `` Well , I thought I was sure , '' insisted the crestfallen cadet . He knew for a certainty that some of the cadets had been out but saw no way to prove it . `` In the future be more careful while on guard duty , '' said Captain Putnam coldly ; and there the subject was dropped .