about midnight
`` Little missee give me , '' replied Maru , still convulsed with the humour which his childish mind found in the situation . `` She tell me come alonga you . '' Holman poured out a torrent of questions which the smiling messenger endeavoured to answer to the best of his ability . In pigeon English he informed us that he had deserted Leith 's camp about midnight ; that the big ruffian had turned abruptly from the direction he was moving in at the time we caught up with him , and that Holman 's bullet had caused him serious inconvenience . The two girls and the Professor were in charge of Soma and the one-eyed white man , who , we now learned , was deaf and dumb . It was while One Eye was on guard that Barbara Herndon had been able to bribe the Raretongan to throw the strength of his muscles upon our side of the argument . Holman , with lover-like longing for anything owned by the lady of his choice , attempted to put the emerald ring in his pocket , but Maru objected strongly .