midnight
Aiken himself seemed to feel the awe and beauty of the place , and called the direction to me in a whisper . Even that murmur was enough to carry above the rustling of the palms , and startled hundreds of monkeys into wakefulness . We could hear their barks and cries echoing from every part of the forest , and as they sprang from one branch to another the palms bent like trout-rods , and then swept back into place again with a strange swishing sound , like the rush of a great fish through water . After midnight we were too stiff and sore to ride farther , and we bivouacked on the trail beside a stream . I had no desire for further sleep , and I sat at the foot of a tree smoking and thinking . I had often `` camped out '' as a boy , and at West Point with the battalion , but I had never before felt so far away from civilization and my own people . For company I made a little fire and sat before it , going over in my mind what I had learned since I had set forth on my travels .