five in the evening
The ground was hilly and rough , very suitable for ambushes , and over which they did not venture without extreme precaution . Top and Jup skirmished on the flanks , springing right and left through the thick brushwood , and emulating each other in intelligence and activity . But nothing showed that the banks of the stream had been recently frequented -- nothing announced either the presence or the proximity of the convicts . Towards five in the evening the cart stopped nearly 600 feet from the palisade . A semicircular screen of trees still hid it . It was necessary to reconnoiter the corral , in order to ascertain if it was occupied . To go there openly , in broad daylight , when the convicts were probably in ambush , would be to expose themselves , as poor Herbert had done , to the firearms of the ruffians .