ten o'clock
Indeed , as afterwards learned , they began to think that fear prevented an attack on their village , and no sentinels were posted to warn them of any approaching foe . While waiting for the return of John and Muro , Ralph and Tom also wandered around the section surrounding the camp . They were in a valley , on both sides of which were ridges running north and south . The moon came out before ten o'clock , and they remembered some of the scenes about them . They had been brought from the south through this identical valley when they were captured by the Tuolos . They were on the hillside , not five hundred feet from their camp , and were about to descend the hill , when Ralph started back , and grasped Tom 's arm . `` What is that dark object directly ahead ? ''