nine o’clock at night
That 's one of the best ruses of war . Men are sent out to reconnoitre the enemy who return without having reconnoitred anything . But reports are drawn up , after the battle , and then it is that the tacticians are triumphant . Thus , at nine o'clock at night , I was sent out scouting with twelve men -- '' And he gave us a narrative of the War of Succession and of his amours in Italy ; his story had lasted for well-nigh a quarter of an hour when he exclaimed : `` That rascal of an abbé does not come back . I bet he drinks all the wine which remained in the coach . '' Thinking that my dear tutor might possibly be embarrassed , I rose and went to help him . It was a moonless night , and if the sky was resplendent in the light of thousands of stars , the earth was clad in a darkness which my eyes , dazzled by the light of the flames , could not pierce .