one o'clock in the morning
The general was urged by his devoted adherents , Bonner , Bucketts and Strong , to get such sleep as was possible , and the post was committed to the charge of Lieutenant Briggs , officer of the day . The lights were still burning low at the hospital and in the doctor 's quarters and Strong 's , as , with a look about the moonlit valley and a word to his sergeant , Bonner rejoined his comrades at the quartermaster 's veranda . `` Odd , '' said he , with a tilt of his head toward the quarters next beyond , `` of all our little fighting force , so far the only casualties are with our two casuals . '' That was at one o'clock in the morning . At three , by which time all but the guard were presumably in bed , Mrs. Archer , lying anxious and wakeful , listening for the sound of sigh or sob from Lilian 's little room and praying that sorrow might be averted from that beloved child , felt sure at last that she heard a footstep , and , stealing softly across the narrow hallway , found Lilian kneeling at the curtained window and gazing out upon the brilliant night . There was no reproach in the mother 's murmured words . Well she knew what it portended that her daughter should be at this hour sleepless and striving , perhaps , to see the light from the window where her young hero lay prostrate and suffering .