About ten o'clock
Steele was not above paying back these fellows . All the early part of the evening , gangs of half a dozen men or more came down the street and had their last treat at the expense of the jail guard and jailer . These prisoners yelled for drink -- not water but drink , and the more they yelled the more merriment was loosed upon the night air . About ten o'clock the last gang left , to the despair of the hungry and thirsty prisoners . Steele and I had hugely enjoyed the fun , and thought the best part of the joke for us was yet to come . The moon had arisen , and though somewhat hazed by clouds , had lightened the night . We were hidden about sixty paces from the jail , a little above it , and we had a fine command of the door .