nearly noon
Soon afterwards Yarloo went off on the tracks of the horses , which he had had the forethought to hobble before letting them go the previous afternoon , and when Stobart was quite sure that everybody was soundly sleeping , he went over to the packs , stuffed his pockets with tucker , and carried his own and Yarloo 's saddles out of sight over the sand-hill . He returned for his rifle and water-bag , for he did not know whether their lives might not depend on one or the other of these . He did not dare to stay away too long from the sleeping blacks , for fear that one of them should wake and notice that he had gone , so he returned and lay down under a tree and waited for Yarloo . It was nearly noon when the boy returned , and the expression on his face clearly indicated disaster . `` Nantu dead , '' he announced sorrowfully . `` Dead ? '' exclaimed Stobart .