one o'clock
`` From town , sir , I suppose . '' And , leaving the sentry to his own reflections , which , on the whole , were not complimentary to his superior officer , Captain Buxton strode rapidly through the darkness to Lieutenant Hayne 's quarters . Bright lights were still burning within , both on the ground-floor and in a room above . The sentries were just beginning the call of one o'clock when he reached the gate and halted , gazing inquisitively at the house front . Then he turned and listened to the rattle of wheels growing faint in the distance as the team drove away towards the prairie town . If Hayne had gone to town at that hour of the night it was a most unusual proceeding , and he had not the colonel 's permission to absent himself from the post : of that the officer of the day was certain . Then , again , he would not have gone and left all his lights burning .