six at night before
A three-hour , ten-mile tramp through ways now familiar brought Rolf and his partner to the north of the Big Chazy where the canoe was hidden , and without loss of time they pushed off for Burlington , thirty miles away . The wind was head on , and when four hours later they stopped for noon , they had made not more than a dozen miles . All that afternoon they had to fight a heavy sea ; this meant they must keep near shore in case of an upset , and so lengthened the course ; but it also meant that the enemy would not move so long as this wind kept up . It was six at night before the scouts ran into Burlington Harbour and made for Hampton 's headquarters . His aide received them and , after learning that they had news , went in to the general . From the inner room now they heard in unnecessarily loud tones the great man 's orders to , `` Bring them in , sah . '' The bottles on the table , his purple visage , and thick tongued speech told how well-founded were the current whispers .