midnight
It would matter nothing whether such a person were well or ill affected to the sahibs : unless he were accompanied by an adequate escort he would stand small chance against the rebel troops and the lawless element of the population , who had taken advantage of the disturbances to plunder their own countrymen and the hated Feringhis impartially . As he rode , therefore , Ahmed was ever on the alert to catch the first sound of a body of men approaching , or anything that should indicate the neighbourhood of a village . But nothing occurred to cause alarm . The party marched on , through fields , over slight nullahs and across small streams , until , some time after midnight , they struck into a broad dusty track which the men said was the high-road to Delhi . Here Ahmed called a halt , and sat his horse intently listening . Had the Guides passed ? he wondered .