midnight
rejoined the ex-herdsman . `` It 's not the first time I 've seen a horse drove _ stampedoed _ , nor the first time I 've collected them again . I 've not quite forgotten my old business , and as soon as it is daylight , with the permission of the Senor Don Estevan , I shall go in search of them . '' No one made any opposition to the rekindling of the fire , for the night had grown cooler , and it was not yet midnight . The domestics , no longer afraid of going out into the woods , collected fresh fagots -- enough to last till morning -- and the preparations for supper , which had been interrupted by the approach of the jaguars , were now continued with renewed zeal . The blaze soon flared up bright and joyous as ever -- the broiling mutton sent forth its delicious odour , sharpening to a keen edge the appetites of the travellers as they stood around the fire . Don Estevan and the Senator now called before them the two intrepid hunters , who had rendered them a service that fully deserved their thanks .