About nine o'clock
I followed rapidly until , darkness shutting down , I was forced to await the rising of the moon , and given an opportunity to speculate on the question of the wisdom of my chase . Possibly I had conjured up impossible dangers , like some nervous old housewife , and when I should catch up with Powell would get a good laugh for my pains . However , I am not prone to sensitiveness , and the following of a sense of duty , wherever it may lead , has always been a kind of fetich with me throughout my life ; which may account for the honors bestowed upon me by three republics and the decorations and friendships of an old and powerful emperor and several lesser kings , in whose service my sword has been red many a time . About nine o'clock the moon was sufficiently bright for me to proceed on my way and I had no difficulty in following the trail at a fast walk , and in some places at a brisk trot until , about midnight , I reached the water hole where Powell had expected to camp . I came upon the spot unexpectedly , finding it entirely deserted , with no signs of having been recently occupied as a camp . I was interested to note that the tracks of the pursuing horsemen , for such I was now convinced they must be , continued after Powell with only a brief stop at the hole for water ; and always at the same rate of speed as his . I was positive now that the trailers were Apaches and that they wished to capture Powell alive for the fiendish pleasure of the torture , so I urged my horse onward at a most dangerous pace , hoping against hope that I would catch up with the red rascals before they attacked him .