the march about eight o'clock
The bleeding stopped presently , but not before it had made Green 's kharkee sleeve and his sword , down which there had been a trickle , look exceedingly warlike . `` He has fleshed his maiden blade ! '' said Tom Strachan . The force started on the march about eight o'clock . It moved in square , with camels , mules , baggage , ammunition in the centre . Also inside were the surgeons and ambulance , and some troops ready to strengthen any weak part in the course of action ; there were guns , either machine-guns , -LRB- as guns which fire bullets through individual barrels by turning a handle -- various improvements upon the mitrailleuse -- are called -RRB- or Krupp guns , at the corners , manned either by sailors or artillerymen . The square was not a square in the sense of Euclid , because two sides of it were longer than the other two .