one o'clock
The forest path was rankly wet with night dew , and dimly lighted by the moon . The soldier hurried forward , only to find that in his haste he had missed the main path . Slowly and anxiously he retraced his way until he found the right road again , and then went forward slowly enough now to go with care . And so , at last , he saw before him the city of Ilo Ilo , only to learn , when he was challenged by a picket , that it was one o'clock and that the Utica had steamed out of the harbour an hour before . Useless as he feared the dispatch might be now , Sergeant Johnson insisted that it be delivered at once , and that he be given an opportunity to ask to be allowed to tell the general why he was so late . When that officer , roused from sleep , had read the dispatch and heard the story briefly , for there were other things to be thought of then , he told the young man , `` You have done well , '' for he knew the ways of Filipino `` tulisanes , '' `` and after all perhaps you may not be too late . '' But before he explained what he meant by the last part of his sentence , the general called for one of his aids , and as soon as the man could be brought , hastily gave him certain orders with instructions that they were to be communicated to the officers whom they concerned , as quickly as was possible , regardless of how sound asleep those gentlemen might be .