midnight
Fac ' is , Mistah Sam , we could n't well be in a badder fix , no matter wat happened to us . '' `` Oh , yes , '' drawled Wah Shin , '' ' spose we hab no clothes , no laftee , no gun , no can gettee way , den wat ? '' `` Keep moving , boys , till you get warm , '' called out Sam , and he set the example by walking about on the flat top of the rock , taking care that neither himself nor companions went too close to the perilous edge . The exertion and the heat of their bodies warmed them up and dried their clothes , but by this time it was near midnight . There was no danger of being disturbed by savage foe or wild beast , still Sam thought it better to keep up the system of guards he had first established . He was so weary that he could have dropped on the hard , cold rock on which he stood , and been asleep at once , but that fine sense of duty that distinguished all his acts , led him to forget or put aside his own wants for the safety and comfort of others . But though Ike loved to eat and sleep as well as any youth , black or white , that ever lived , there was a `` streek '' of thoughtfulness and unselfishness in his character that asserted itself now and then .