ten o'clock
`` Good-by , sir , '' Ned said softly ; `` we will be back in half an hour if we have luck . '' Then they picked their way carefully over the rough ground till they reached the lane , and then walked boldly but noiselessly forward , for they knew that for a little way there was no risk of meeting an enemy , and that in the darkness they were perfectly invisible to any native posted near the guns . After fifty yards ' walking , they dropped on their hands and knees . Although the guns had been absolutely silent since their fire ceased at ten o'clock , a dropping musketry fire from the houses and walls on either side had , as usual , continued . This indicated to the boys pretty accurately the position of the guns . Crawling forward foot by foot , they reached the little ridge which sheltered the guns from the battery in Gubbins ' garden . The guns themselves they could not see , for behind them was a house , and , except against the sky line , nothing was visible .