midnight
Cram knocked at the door ; no answer . Opening it , he glanced in . The room was unoccupied . A cheap marine clock , ticking between the north windows over the wash-stand , indicated midnight , and the battery commander turned away in vexation of spirit . Lieutenant Doyle had no authority to be absent from the post . It was still dark and storming furiously when the bugles of the battery sounded the reveille , and by the light of the swinging lanterns the men marched away in their canvas stable rig , looking like a column of ghosts . Yet , despite the gale and the torrents of rain , Pierce was in no wise surprised to find Cram at his elbow when the horses were led out to water .