about nine o'clock
Ned as usual was silent , but Obed talked nearly all the time and Carossa seemed to like it . Ned saw that the brigand leader was vain , eager to show his power and resource , but he was sure that , at bottom , he was cruel , and that he would turn them forth stripped and helpless in the forest . Night came down suddenly , but the man in front lighted a small lantern that he took from under his serape , and they continued the march with unabated speed . The forest thinned , and about nine o'clock they came into an open space . The moon was now out and Ned saw a group of four rectangular buildings , elevated on mounds . The buildings , besides being rectangles themselves , were so placed that the group made a rectangle . The structures of stone were partly ruined , and of great age .