midnight
Between the hills there was a cordon of sentries , and though I worked some distance round to the flank I still found myself faced by the enemy . It was a puzzle what to do . There was so little cover that a rat could hardly cross without being seen . Of course , it would be easy enough to slip through at night , as I had done with the English at Torres Vedras , but I was still far from the mountain and I could not in that case reach it in time to light the midnight beacon . I lay in my ditch and I made a thousand plans , each more dangerous than the last . And then suddenly I had that flash of light which comes to the brave man who refuses to despair . You remember I have mentioned that two waggons were loading up with empty casks at the inn .