About ten o'clock
As soon as I could see one of the vedettes , I would retreat through the woods until I was out of danger ; then I would go fifty or a hundred yards to my left , and approach , again on my hands and knees until I discovered a man , when I would retreat again , and so on alternately . At one place I saw the picket-line itself stretching across the top of an open hill , with the vedettes concealed , no doubt , in the hollow in front . I was compelled to go almost entirely around a field , taking a back track for a quarter of a mile , and then going forward again on the west side of the field . About ten o'clock the rain ceased , and while I was thus helped in one respect , I was hindered also . The pickets would be more alert , and I felt compelled to keep at a greater distance from the line . I made another advance , and this time continued advancing , for to my gratification I found no extension of the picket-line in front of me . I thought at first that it had been thrown back here , and that I was now going along the western front .