midnight
Chesterton pounced upon the half-buried matchbox , and in a panic lest he might again lose it , thrust it inside his tunic . `` Little do you know , El Capitan , '' he exclaimed breathlessly , as he scrambled back into the saddle and lifted the pony into a gallop , `` what a narrow escape I had . I almost lost it . '' Toward midnight they came to a wooden bridge swinging above a ravine in which a mountain stream , forty feet below , splashed over half-hidden rocks , and the stepping stones of the ford . Even before the campaign began the bridge had outlived its usefulness , and the unwonted burden of artillery , and the vibrations of marching men had so shaken it that it swayed like a house of cards . Threatened by its own weight , at the mercy of the first tropic storm , it hung a death trap for the one who first added to its burden . No sooner had El Capitan struck it squarely with his four hoofs , than he reared and , whirling , sprang back to the solid earth .