midnight
He had been well trained and long trained , for with no sound even to Nalasu 's ears keener than seeing men 's ears , he followed the direction of the arrow 's impact against the tree and brought the arrow back in his mouth . Again Nalasu waited , until the rustlings of a fresh drawing-in of the circle could be heard , whereupon Nalasu , Jerry accompanying him , picked up all his arrows and moved soundlessly half-way around the circle . Even as they moved , a Snider exploded that was aimed in the general direction of the spot just vacated . And the blind man and the dog , from midnight to dawn , successfully fought off twelve men equipped with the thunder of gunpowder and the wide-spreading , deep-penetrating , mushroom bullets of soft lead . And the blind man defended himself only with a bow and a hundred arrows . He discharged many hundreds of arrows which Jerry retrieved for him and which he discharged over and over . But Jerry aided valiantly and well , adding to Nalasu 's acute hearing his own acuter hearing , circling noiselessly about the house and reporting where the attack pressed closest .