midnight
So the horses were brought up , and the captured guns were packed upon some of the recovered ponies . There were some new blankets strapped on the backs of these Indian horses , and Gabriel took one of the blankets and secured it as a pillion behind his own saddle for Celeste to ride upon . As they rode out of the forest shadow they could see the moon just coming up over the hills beyond the great Cahokian mound . It was midnight when the party trampled across the rigolé bridge into Cahokia streets . The people were sleeping with one eye open . All day , stragglers from the wedding procession had been coming in , and a company was organized for defense and pursuit . They had heard that the whole Pottawattamie nation had risen .