six o'clock
`` H 'm ! '' grunted Robert Macleod , who marched next to them , and had no conscientious scruples about talking , `` we may mairch oot smert eneugh , but some o ' us 'll no ' come back sae hearty . '' `` Some of us will never come back at all , '' replied Armstrong , gravely . By six o'clock the rear-guard had left Suakim , and the whole of the force moved across the plain , in parts of which the men and carts sank deep in the soft sand , while in other parts the formations were partly broken by thick bush , in which the force became somewhat entangled . The cavalry went in advance as scouts . The guns , water-carts , and ammunition-wagons were in the centre , and the Indian Brigade came last , surrounding the unwieldy mass of baggage-animals . Last of all came the telegraph detachment , unrolling as they went the wire that kept open communication with head-quarters .