nine o'clock in the morning
Anyhow , our news will be very valuable , for at present he is supposed to be over on the other side , and he would have taken our troops entirely by surprise , if he had suddenly poured out onto the plain . So we must give up my idea of hiding up , for if we did so we should have to lie there all day , and it would mean the loss of twenty-four hours ; for I would not go down those ghauts for any money , except in daylight . It is a very different thing going downhill to going up , and if we were to attempt it in the dark , we should break our necks for a certainty . If we can get away early , tonight , we shall be at the edge of that steep place by nine o'clock in the morning , and if we strike the right point , we might be back to the Rajah by nightfall . '' `` It will be difficult to find our way back in the dark , '' Surajah said . `` No doubt . Still , we can keep in the general direction , and even if we do not hit upon the stream tonight , we shall find it in the morning . ''