midnight
I can assure you that I have rarely been in a worse position , and I have been in some queer ones . However , these things are the natural incidents of a hunter 's life , and the only thing to do was to make the best of them . `` Accordingly , after passing a comfortless night by the remains of my waggon , we started next morning on our long journey towards civilization . Now if I were to set to work to tell you all the troubles and incidents of that dreadful journey I should keep you listening here till midnight ; so I will , with your permission , pass on to the particular adventure of which the pair of buffalo horns opposite are the melancholy memento . `` We had been travelling for about a month , living and getting along as best we could , when one evening we camped some forty miles from Bamangwato . By this time we were indeed in a melancholy plight , footsore , half starved , and utterly worn out ; and , in addition , I was suffering from a sharp attack of fever , which half blinded me and made me weak as a babe . Our ammunition , too , was exhausted ; I had only one cartridge left for my eight-bore rifle , and Hans and Mashune , who were armed with Martini Henrys , had three between them .