About five o'clock
With our reinforcements , however , and on our guard , we might defy the rascals . Chamberlain was in command -- a fine young fellow . We soon made him understand the situation , and were all ready for a start by daybreak though his waggons were so full that we were compelled to leave several tons of fodder behind in order to make room for my Sepoys and for the artillery . About five o'clock we inspanned , to use an Africanism , and by six we were well on our way , with our escort as straggling and unconcerned as possible -- as helpless-looking a caravan as ever invited attack . I could soon see that it was to be no false alarm this time , and that the tribes really meant business . From my post of observation , under the canvas screens of one of the waggons , I could make out turbaned heads popping up to have a look at us from among the rocks , and an occasional scout hurrying northward with the news of our approach . It was not , however , until we came abreast of the Terada Pass , a gloomy defile bounded by gigantic cliffs , that the Afridis began to show in force , though they had ambushed themselves so cleverly that , had we not been keenly on the look-out for them , we might have walked right into the trap .