about two o'clock in
the morning
In a short time they returned , well contented to find that the attack had been made merely by a hundred volunteers or so , who on finding our strength had retreated . We knew , however , that they would not go far-off , and felt the unpleasant assurance that we should , in all probability , be continually harassed during the whole of our march back , and perhaps even have to fight our way through a crowd of active enemies . Under these circumstances Hawthorne and I agreed that we should , without a moment 's delay , commence our march . It was now about two o'clock in the morning . We had performed the service we had come on , and gained all the information we required . We had ascertained that the surrounding country would supply us amply with provisions ; that the vessels which had taken refuge in the creek could not be cut out without a strong force , and that the people were , if not actually in arms against us , far from favourable to the royal cause , as Arnold had led us to suppose they would be . We had also distributed large numbers of his address .