midnight
What else could that signal-fire mean ? Here ! get those men out to the front now at once ; we must push ahead for all we 're worth . '' And so at midnight , with steeds panting and jaded , with the pass and the Picacho only four miles ahead , the little detachment was tripping noiselessly through the darkness , and , all alert and eager , Drummond was riding midway between his scouts and the main body so that no sound close at hand might distract his attention from hails or signals farther out . Suddenly he heard an exclamation ahead , the snort of a frightened horse , then some muffled objurgations , a rider urging a reluctant steed to approach some suspicious object , and , spurring his own spirited charger forward , Mr. Drummond came presently upon the corporal just dismounting in the darkness and striving to lead his boon companion , whom he could not drive , up to some dark object lying on the plain . This , too , failed . A low whistle , however , brought one of the other scouts trotting in to the rescue .