eight o'clock
At last he found himself in the Nazri valley , with the thin sword-cut showing dark in the yellow evening . Another mile and he would be at the camping-place , and in five more at the hut . He kept high up on the ridge , for the light had almost gone and the valley was perilous . It must be hideously late , eight o'clock or more , he thought , and his despair made him hurry his very weary limbs . Suddenly in the distant hollow he saw the gleam of a fire . He stopped abruptly and then quickened with a cry of joy . It must be the faithful George still waiting in the place appointed .