midnight before
His next attention was directed to his bamboo float , which had been practically dismembered . He had utilized the heavy stems to construct a long and narrow platform , with two rude hooks lashed on the end to engage a rung of his ladder . This ladder he not only lowered down from the wall to a position in front of the cavern 's opening , securing its end with more than ordinary caution among the rocks he piled upon it , but also he had tested the length , and every rung , by extending his platform across from the ledge and climbing from the sea to the terrace . It was midnight before his final preparation was complete . This had been simply arranged . He had carried a canister of powder to the outside rocks , considerably back of Elaine 's former shelter , together with two small bombs . The powder he laid in a six-foot ring , or spiral , that narrowed towards the center , merely to provide a lasting and widespread flash when at length it should be ignited .