4 P.M.
The passengers chatted , dozed , played cards , read , all unconscious , with the exception of three , of the coming conflict between the good and the evil forces bearing on their fate ; of the fell preparations making for their disaster ; of the grim preparations making to avert such disaster ; of all of which the little wires alongside of them had been talking back and forth . Watkins had telegraphed that he still saw no reason to doubt the good faith of his warning , and Sinclair had reported his receipt of authority and his acceptance thereof . Meanwhile , also , there had been set in motion a measure of that power to which appeal is so reluctantly made in time of peace . At Fort -- , a lonely post on the plains , the orders had that morning been issued for twenty men under Lieutenant Halsey to parade at 4 P.M. , with overcoats , two days ' rations , and ball cartridges ; also for Assistant Surgeon Kesler to report for duty with the party . Orders as to destination were communicated direct to the lieutenant from the post commander , and on the minute the little column moved , taking the road to the station . The regiment from which it came had been in active service among the Indians on the frontier for a long time , and the officers and men were tried and seasoned fighters . Lieutenant Halsey had been well known at the West Point balls as the `` leader of the german . ''