nine o’clock
This question settled , they resumed their watch of the native proceedings , and continued so doing till evening fell . Not a solitary native remained at the foot of the mountain , and when darkness set in over the Taupo valleys , not a fire indicated the presence of the Maories at the base . The road was free . At nine o'clock , the night being unusually dark , Glenarvan gave the order to start . His companions and he , armed and equipped at the expense of Kara-Tete , began cautiously to descend the slopes of Maunganamu , John Mangles and Wilson leading the way , eyes and ears on the alert . They stopped at the slightest sound , they started at every passing cloud . They slid rather than walked down the spur , that their figures might be lost in the dark mass of the mountain .