half past one at night
Not a man could be seen , and if there was any garrison for the place , they were certainly taking things very comfortably , for they must have been asleep at this unseemly hour for any ordinary occupation . Not far from the battery was a rude structure , hardly better than a shanty , which Christy concluded must be the barracks of the soldiers if there were any there . He walked over to it ; but there was not a human being to be seen in the vicinity . It was half past one at night , when honest people ought to be abed and asleep , and the first lieutenant of the Bronx concluded that the garrison , if this shanty was their quarters , must be honest people . Christy walked very cautiously to the side of the building , for the entrance was at the end nearest to the fort , and found several windows there , from which the sashes seemed to have been removed , if there had ever been any . The bottom of each opening was no higher than his head , and he went to one of them and looked in . Extending along the middle of the interior was a row of berths .