nine o'clock
`` No , sir ; I have been stationing the guard . '' `` Then sit down here and share what little we have . We can waive formality to-night . '' It was after nine o'clock when the sentries challenged the advance of Custer 's column , as it stole silently out of the gloom . Ten minutes later the men were hovering about the fires , absorbing such small comforts as were possible , while the General and Major Elliott discussed the situation and planned to push forward . An hour later the fires were extinguished , the horses quietly saddled , and noiselessly the tired cavalrymen moved out once more and took up the trail . The moon had risen , lighting up the desert , and the Osage guides , together with the two scouts , led the way .