About nine o'clock
Nick was lying on the ground , moody and silent . I had no more tobacco . I came down from the tree and told Nick to lead the way through the woods until we could get near the rebel pickets where their line crossed the road . About nine o'clock we were lying in the bushes near the edge of felled timber , through an opening in which , ran the road at our left . At long intervals a man would pass across the road where it struck the picket-line . Both from the map and from Nick 's imperfect delivery of his topographical knowledge I was convinced that the main rebel line was behind the Warwick River , and that here was nothing but an outpost ; and I was considering whether it would not be best to turn this position on the north , reach the river as rapidly as possible , and make for Lee 's Mill , which I understood was the rebel salient , and see what was above that point , when I heard galloping in the road behind us . Nick had heard the noise before it reached my ears .