about nine o’clock in the evening
And all this time fighting was going on to the east of us . The battle of Sha-Ho had begun , but we were in the reserve , in what they called the deepest reserve , and we heard no sound of firing , neither did we receive any news of it . We seemed to be sheltered from the world in an island of dreamy lotus-eating ; and the only noise that reached us was the sound of the tinkling gongs of the temple . We lived a life of absolute indolence , getting up with the sun , eating , playing cards , strolling about on the plains where the millet had now been reaped , eating again and going to bed about nine o'clock in the evening . Our chief amusement was to talk with Chun Wa and to watch the way in which he treated the Cossacks , who had become his humble slaves . I am sure there was not one of the men who would not have died gladly for Chun Wa . One afternoon , just as we were finishing our midday meal , we received orders to start .