nine o'clock in the evening
At which of the stations , or if at both , the firing was going on , they could not tell ; but in fact it was at Cawnpore , as this was the 25th of June , and the siege of the Lucknow Residency did not begin in earnest until the 30th of that month . The course had now to be decided upon , and maps were consulted , and it was determined to cross the river at Sirapore . It was agreed , too , that they should , at the first village they passed through that evening , question the inhabitants as to the bodies of rebels moving about , and find out whether any large number were stationed at any of the bridges . At nine o'clock in the evening they were again in the saddle , and an hour later halted at a village . There several of the men were examined separately , and their stories agreed that there were no large bodies of Sepoys on the line by which they proposed to travel , but that most of the talookdars were preparing to march to Lucknow and Cawnpore , when the British were destroyed . Having thus learned that the bridge by which they intended to cross was open to them , the troop again proceeded on their way , leaving the village lost in astonishment as to where this body of British horse could have come from . Upon this night 's ride Ned and Dick Warrener were on rearguard -- that is to say , they rode together some two hundred yards behind the rest of the squadron .