midnight
Good-night . '' `` Good-night . Thank you , sir . '' Half an hour before midnight the sergeant of the guard aroused me to report that strange noises could be heard from the rear of the camp . I went to the top of the ridge and listened . A sound like the dragging of branches over the ground , with occasional pauses , fell upon my ears . I sent for the elder Cordova , and he listened long , with an ear close to the ground .