ten o'clock
These two men were also the bearers of a message of apology from the king , to the effect that , since I seemed to have a liking for gold , he regretted that he had no more to offer me , but that as gold was of no value in the country , and was not particularly sought after , it was only occasionally that a stray nugget or a handful of dust was found ; and that the contents of the bags represented the casual findings of many years . It was somewhat disappointing to learn that here , in Gwanda , where I had confidently anticipated that gold in practically unlimited quantity might be had almost for the asking , there should be so little ; yet the situation was not without its compensations , for if the natives attached so little value to the metal that they would not even take the trouble to hunt for it , there ought to be all the more for me -- if I could but coax the king into granting me a concession . So I dissembled my disappointment , handed over the gifts to Piet , with instructions to pack them away in the rear of the wagon , rewarded the messengers who had brought them , and dismissed them , happy in the possession of a few mixed beads . About half-past ten o'clock that night I was sitting in my wagon , reading by the light of the all but full moon -- for , this being the eve of the great annual festival , the town was in an uproar , and the volume of sound emanating from it and from the temporary encampments outside it rendered sleep impossible -- when I became aware of a figure muffled in a great kaross in such a manner as to render identification impossible . Apart from this circumstance , however , there was a certain suggestion of furtiveness in the movements of the figure , a something indicative of a desire to avoid observation , that attracted my attention from my book and aroused my curiosity . It seemed to be wandering about aimlessly ; but when I had been watching it for some ten minutes I became convinced that , erratic as its movements seemed to be , they were not without method ; and that method , I soon saw , was causing the unknown one -- a man -- to gravitate slowly but surely toward the wagon . So I waited patiently , and a quarter of an hour later he accomplished a masterly movement which brought him within the shadow of the wagon .