night about nine o'clock
I should say so ! '' Then he lifted his head , drew his chair closer to the group , ran his eyes around the room to be sure of his audience , and said in still lower tones : `` What I 'm going to tell you , gentlemen , is between us , remember . None of you , I am sure , would want to get him into any more trouble , if you knew the circumstances as I do . One night about nine o'clock , during a pouring rain , Ed and I lay in a swamp under a lean-to . Ed was asleep , and I was dozing off , when I heard something step in the brush on the other side of the fire . I could n't see anything , it was so dark , but it sounded just like an animal slouching and stepping about as light as it could . It would stop suddenly and then I 'd hear the brush crack again on the left . ''