seven in the evening
Rupert had met Gerald Dillon before , and knew him to be as wild , adventurous , and harum-scarum a young officer as his cousin Pat ; and in half-an-hour 's talk the whole matter was settled . Gerald would take two petards , which weighed some twenty pounds each , to his tent , one by one . Hugh should fetch them in a basket , one by one , to the river bank , at the spot where a balk of wood had been washed ashore by some recent floods . At seven in the evening Gerald should call upon his cousin , and on leaving , accompany Rupert to the river bank , where Hugh would be already in waiting . When they had left , Pat Dillon should start on horseback with the three uniforms in his valise , the party hiding the clothes in which they left the camp , under the bank at their place of starting . The plan was carried out as arranged , and soon after seven o'clock Rupert Holliday and Gerald Dillon , leaving the camp , strolled down to the river , on whose bank Hugh was already sitting . The day had been extremely hot , and numbers of soldiers were bathing in the river .