midnight
We waited until evening , without seeing the uhlans : they had retreated after the first attack , but unfortunately we had not seen Piédelot either . Was he dead or a prisoner ? When night came , the captain proposed that we should go out and look for him , and so the three of us started . At the cross-roads we found a broken rifle and some blood , while the ground was trampled down , but we did not find either a wounded man or a dead body , although we searched every thicket , and at midnight we returned without having discovered anything of our unfortunate comrade . `` It is very strange , '' the captain growled . `` They must have killed him and thrown him into the bushes somewhere ; they can not possibly have taken him prisoner , as he would have called out for help . I can not understand it all . ''