nearly ten
o'clock before
`` A night or two later , and fortunately when I was spending the evening with him , the climax came . The old fellow had , or pretended to have , taken a great fancy to me , and more than once he reiterated his desire that I should accept the diamond he had first offered to me . I steadfastly refused to do so , however , and could see that my decision increased his good opinion of me . On this occasion it was nearly ten o'clock before I left the hut . It was a beautiful moonlight night , and so still that you could have heard a leaf drop a hundred yards away . It was his own proposal that he should walk a portion of the way with me . We therefore set out , and had proceeded about half the distance , when there was a loud report of a rifle in the bushes close beside us , and a second later he uttered a cry and fell into my arms .