about one
o'clock in the morning
The four men started off as though they meant to obey this order to the letter . Weeks and his companions divided up as they had been ordered to do in coming to the fort , and departed in different directions . The lieutenant pointed out to them the locality of the bivouac where he had passed so much of the evening , so that they might avoid it . It was about one o'clock in the morning when they left , and Christy calculated that they would reach the ship in an hour and a half , which would give the commander ample time to get up steam from the banked fires , and move down four or five miles to the southward of his present position . The chief of the expedition had sent no message to the captain of the Bellevite in regard to his own movements , but simply that he would report to him later . He had already grasped an idea , though he had had no time to work it up in detail . It looked practicable to him , and he had jumped to a conclusion as soon as he was in possession of the facts covering the situation in the vicinity of Fort Morgan .