About nine o'clock
They had been among the mountains a week , and were approaching fairly close to Coroico ; Jim therefore took the precaution to throw out scouts in all directions round his little force , in order to prevent surprise ; and one evening , just before darkness began to settle down , one of the men came riding in to say that he had caught sight of a small body of Bolivians hovering among the hills about a mile to the right of the main body . `` Evidently , '' thought the young commander , `` the guerillas are expecting some such expedition as this , and have thrown out their outposts ; there will therefore be little hope of taking them by surprise . '' However , as there was no further alarm , and as darkness was fast closing down , orders were given for the camp to be pitched for the night ; and very soon the horses were picketed and the men were under canvas , sentries were posted , and everything was made snug and comfortable for the night . About nine o'clock , feeling greatly fatigued , Jim turned into his tent , and , wrapping himself in his heavy overcoat , threw himself down on the ground , determined to get to sleep early that he might feel fresh and fit for the next morning , when they might reasonably expect to get into touch with the enemy . But try as he might , and tired as he was , sleep refused to visit him , and the harder he tried the wider awake did he become . He also found that he was rapidly becoming obsessed by a horrible feeling that all was not right , that there was some unknown but terrible danger hovering over the sleeping camp . He strove to dispossess his mind of such fancies by assuring himself that sentries were posted everywhere , and that therefore the camp would be early alarmed in the event of an attack being made ; but it was all to no purpose ; the presentiment only held him the more firmly in its embrace .