midnight
Beneath the darkening skies of early evening , the Sergeant and the Osage guide rode forth into the peril and mystery of the shrouded desert . Beyond the outmost picket , moving as silently as two spectres , they found at last a coulee leading upward from the valley to the plains above . To their left the Indian fires swept in half circle , and between were the dark outlines of savage foes . From rock to rock echoed guttural voices , but , foot by foot , unnoted by the keen eyes , the two crept steadily on through the midnight of that sheltering ravine , dismounted , hands clasping the nostrils of their ponies , feeling through the darkness for each step , halting breathless at every crackle of a twig , every crunch of snow under foot . Again and again they paused , silent , motionless , as some apparition of savagery outlined itself between them and the sky , yet slowly , steadily , every instinct of the plains exercised , they passed unseen . In the earliest gray of dawn the two wearied men crept out upon the upper plateau , dragging their horses . Behind , the mists of the night still hung heavy and dark over the valley , yet with a new sense of freedom they swung into their saddles , faced sternly the chill wind of the north , and rode forward across the desolate snow fields .