ten o'clock at night
After reaching the spot , and waiting till the expected boat-crews arrived , the hunter quietly landed , and stationed two of the men in the narrow pass north of the gorge , with orders to keep a sharp lookout through the night , hail whoever might approach , and shoot him down before suffering him to escape . He next led two more up round the nearest approaches of the cave , and posted one on each side , a little above it , to prevent all possibility of escape over the rocks and ledges in that direction ; and then , returning down to the shore , selected the trapper to occupy with him the southern pass to the gorge , thus reserving for himself , and the man on whom he believed he could best rely in an emergency , the post where an encounter would be most likely to occur . After completing these arrangements , and landing a pair of handcuffs from the sheriff 's boat , he dismissed the officer to collect all the rest of the company , not thus retained , and return to the village for the night , and for a fresh rally the next morning . It was now ten o'clock at night ; and from that time , for the next six hours , the stillness and darkness of death brooded over the slumbering waters of the lake . The mute men on guard , -- to whom the slowly-passing hours seemed doubly long and gloomy , from the oppressive sense of the duty of silence , -- stood immovably at their posts , alternately employing themselves in guessing at the hour of the night , and intently listening to catch some sound which should indicate the presence of the dreaded object of their watch . But , through the whole night , no such sound or indication reached their strained senses ; and most of them , at length , were brought to the belief that either he had never been there , or that he had , by some unknown means , effected his escape . The hunter , however , never for a moment permitted his faith to waver .