About midnight
Then they began to run after the cart shouting , but were soon lost in the darkness . John and Mouti did not spare the whip , but pressed on up the stony hills on the Pretoria side of Heidelberg without a halt . They were , however , unable to keep up with the cart ahead of them , which was evidently more freshly horsed . About midnight , too , the moon vanished altogether , and they must creep on as best they could through the darkness . Indeed , so dark was it , that Mouti was obliged to get out and lead the exhausted horses , one of which would now and again fall down , to be cruelly flogged before it rose . Once , too , the cart very nearly upset ; and on another occasion it was within an inch of rolling down a precipice . This went on till two in the morning , when John found that it was impossible to force the wearied beasts a yard farther .