About midnight
`` Vell ! vell ! '' replied Jack , `` there vould n't be much ` arm in tryin our ` and in that vay , as ven ve got a chance ve might step into the ranks of the Hinglish and give them a lift ; ven , if needs be , ve could slip out again and take our luck in the trail of the fight , pickin hup votever might drop in the vay . '' About midnight the troops came up with Col. Hoy 's party , and after marching a considerable distance and then taking a couple of hours rest , the whole force made a cautious detour towards the direct line leading from Ridgeway to Chippewa ; O'Neill being satisfied that he had already intercepted the junction of the British , and should be able to engage and defeat either one party or the other before they could both unite . In this way the night was passed ; every precaution being taken to guard against ambush or surprise , until morning became well advanced , and the invaders , after having emerged from a swamp through which they had marched , found themselves within three or four miles of Ridgeway . It was at this point and period that the Kid , after leaving Greaves , had come up with , or rather encountered , the wagon with Black Jack and Wilson , who , as usual , kept moving slowly in the rear of the troops and sniffing , like blood-hounds or vultures , their prey in the distance . As observed in a previous chapter , the two worthies had scarcely welcomed their companion or seen him comfortably seated beside them , before they were all aroused by the report of fire-arms , apparently ahead of the main body of the troops , which , as near as they could calculate , was about half a mile in advance .