about midnight
Now , had this same Indian been an Iroquois I might have formed some reasonable judgment concerning his capacity for treachery ; but I had seen few Delawares in my life , and had never heard them speak at all , save to boast in their cups of Uncas , Tamanund , and Miontonomoh . As for a Siwanois Mohican , this Sagamore of the Magic Clan was the first of his tribe and ensign that I had ever beheld . And with every motive and every interest and desire in the world to believe him honest -- and even in my secret heart believing him to be so -- yet I could not close eyes and ears to what so stealthily was passing in the midnight woods around me . And truly it was duty , nor any motive baser , that set me after him that starlit night , when , as before , being on guard , he left the fire about midnight : and I out of my blanket and after him in a trice . The day was the 7th of July , a Wednesday , I remember , as I had writ it in my journal , my habit being to set down every evening , or as near the date as convenient , a few words which briefly recorded the day 's events . The night before we had camped in the woods along the Catskill road leading toward Cobus-kill ; this night , being fine and warm , we made open camp along a stream , within a few miles ' journey of the Middle Fort ; and , soupaan being eaten , let the coals die and whiten into ashes . This , partly because we needed not the warmth , partly from precaution .