midnight
With the morning , he knew , these army-wise soldiers would go down the road until they found their outfits and there pour forth a plausible lie about becoming lost in the tangle and how they had searched all night for their company . McGee knew little enough about the American infantrymen , but he did know that `` for tricks that are vain '' Bret Harte 's famous heathen Chinee had nothing on the average soldier of the line , be he American , English , French or a black man from Senegal . Cautiously he felt out a clear space , spread his coat over the rough timbers and was soon sound asleep . While McGee slept soundly , blissfully removed from all scenes of conflict and completely ignorant of his exact location , a midnight conference of gravest nature was taking place in the little settlement of Landres-et-St . Georges , far behind the German lines of defense . Four thick-necked , grey-haired German officers were seated at a long table in the front room of a chateau that had been in German hands for more than three years . Candles flickered uncertainly on the table , lighting the center of the large room but leaving the corners in dim shadows .