about one in the morning
It seemed absolutely endless , and once or twice I feared that two of the Askari would have died of the wet , cold , and exposure . Indeed , had it not been for timely doses of brandy I am sure that they would have died , for no African people can stand much exposure , which first paralyses and then kills them . I could see that even that iron old warrior Umslopogaas felt it keenly ; though , in strange contrast to the Wakwafis , who groaned and bemoaned their fate unceasingly , he never uttered a single complaint . To make matters worse , about one in the morning we again heard the owl 's ominous hooting , and had at once to prepare ourselves for another attack ; though , if it had been attempted , I do not think that we could have offered a very effective resistance . But either the owl was a real one this time , or else the Masai were themselves too miserable to think of offensive operations , which , indeed , they rarely , if ever , undertake in bush veldt . At any rate , we saw nothing of them . At last the dawn came gliding across the water , wrapped in wreaths of ghostly mist , and , with the daylight , the rain ceased ; and then , out came the glorious sun , sucking up the mists and warming the chill air .