midnight
The watch on the rat-holes had been maintained , but the watchers had shifted to the hill slope above the holes , feeling this a safer firing-point . They squatted there in a rather abundant dew , fighting the damp with whisky . The others rested in the house , and the three leaders discussed the night 's work with the men . The moon rose towards midnight , and as soon as it was clear of the downs , every one except the rat-hole sentinels started off in single file , led by Cossar , towards the wasps ' nest . So far as the wasps ' nest went , they found their task exceptionally easy -- astonishingly easy . Except that it was a longer labour , it was no graver affair than any common wasps ' nest might have been . Danger there was , no doubt , danger to life , but it never so much as thrust its head out of that portentous hillside .