six until ten
All that night and the next , and through the intervening days , we kept rigorous watch and ward , while our supply of food and water dwindled until we were almost as badly off as during our last days in the boat . A further attempt to replenish our stock of water , which I made in desperation during the night of the fourth day of our investment , showed that our enemies were not only still present , but as watchful and pertinacious as ever . And that night , or rather in the early hours of the following morning , came the climax , when the wily foe made a last desperate attempt to rush our defences and overpower us by force of numbers . I had taken the first night watch , from six until ten , and Julius the middle watch from ten until two o'clock in the morning , when I relieved him . He had informed me that he had neither seen nor heard anything of a disquieting nature during his watch , and had left me about ten minutes or thereabout , when , as I lay prone near the entrance of the cavern , with my gaze intently fixed upon the path outside , a slight rustling sound came to my ear . I could not at first locate it , so I crept closer and closer still to the opening , until my head was actually protruding beyond the portal . As I glanced cautiously about me , keenly alert to draw back at the first swish of a spear , I felt something , which I presently identified as fine dust , dropping lightly upon my neck and head .