about
an hour after midnight
Anyhow , if -- if anything does happen it wo n't come during darkness ; that is , unless it 's some of them half-breed or Mexican rustlers , and I do n't believe they 've been around these diggings lately . I 'm going to snooze . '' Soon his heavy breathing told that he slept , and several hours passed before he again awoke . If he had made one other observation , probably he would have seen that which would have aroused his suspicions , for , about an hour after midnight , there was an uneasy movement among the animals . And in the starlight , which in a measure made the night less black , several shadowy , slinking forms might have been observed creeping toward the camp and the pile of provisions and supplies , among the latter of which were the boxes containing the valuable films of the moving pictures . It was Hank , as might have been expected , who awakened . One of the burros , always an excitable , nervous beast , capered about and uttered a shrill whinny as if in fright .