midnight
He sat on the highest point of the swell , and , despite the night , he could see a considerable distance . His sight and hearing alike were acute , but neither brought him any alarm . He tried to reconstruct in his mind the Lipan mode of procedure . With the coming of the night and the disappearance of the fugitives from their sight they would spread out in a long line , in order that they might not pass the two without knowing it , and advance until midnight , perhaps . Then they , too , would rest , and pick up the trail again in the morning . Ned did not know that time could be so long . He had not been watching more than three or four hours , and yet it seemed like as many days .