two A.M.
The anxiety of the two explorers will readily be imagined . They again crouched down in their hole , doubting whether it would not perhaps be prudent to leave even this shelter , for they felt the sand giving way beneath them , and the pines cracking at their very roots . They persevered , however , in gazing towards the south , every nerve strained to the utmost , in the effort to distinguish objects through the darkness . The first grey twilight of the dawn might soon be expected to appear , and a little before half-past two A.M. Long suddenly exclaimed : `` I see it ! '' `` What ? '' `` A fire ! '' `` A fire ? ''