midnight
`` The dances in the neighborhood of the telegraph station to which I referred included men of several tribes , and we knew that mischief would be likely to come of it . Two of our black fellows went as near to the scene of the dance as they dared go , and from time to time brought us particulars of the proceedings . `` We got revolvers and rifles ready , Mrs. Britton taking possession of one of the revolvers , and loading it very carefully . All along during the evening we could hear the yelling of the natives at their dance , but an hour or so before midnight the noise diminished , and one of our black fellows came in to tell us that they were preparing to attack the station . `` The principal building of the station was a block house built for defense against the blacks , and strong enough to resist any of their weapons ; but , of course , they would be able to overpower us by surrounding the place and starving us out , though we had little fear of that . The great danger was that they would come upon us in great numbers , and as we were not sufficiently numerous to defend all parts of the building at once , they could set it on fire and thus compel us to come out and be slaughtered . `` The warning brought by our black fellow proved to be correct .