nine o'clock
The promise was fulfilled . The Mexicans made no hostile movement throughout the afternoon , but they maintained a rigid watch . When the sun had set and the thick night had come down the Panther told of the daring enterprise they were about to undertake , and all approved . By nine o'clock the darkness was complete , and the little band gathered at the point where the path was cut down into the bed of the creek . It was likely that Mexicans were on all sides of the grove , but the Panther did not believe that any of them , owing to bitter experience , would enter the cut made by the stream . But , as leader , he insisted upon the least possible noise . The greatest difficulty would be with the horses .