About midnight
Your warning comes just in time . '' That night Ted Strong went on watch himself in the cupola , while Bud and Clay Whipple marched around the house in opposite directions . Until the threatened attack took place Ted determined that he would watch the house personally , in addition to the regular guard . About midnight Ted heard a slight noise out on the prairie . The night was bright and frosty , and the stars shone with a peculiarly brilliant radiance , seemingly larger , brighter , and nearer the earth than in more northern climes . Instantly his acute senses located the place whence the noise had come . It was merely a slight rustling , but as there was no wind Ted knew instantly that it had been made by some creature .