eight o'clock p.m.
But they might allow a few hours ' cessation of hostilities in the hope of lulling us into a feeling of false security , and thus making us the victims of an easy , yet well - executed surprise . The more I thought about the matter the more probable did this course of action appear ; and at last I resolved to put it to the test by dividing the men into watches and allowing them an hour 's sleep at a time . But before doing this I thought I would repeat my experiment of the previous night and endeavour to secure a little more water , and this I did with such signal success that we actually refilled all our breakers , besides giving every man an opportunity to completely slake his thirst . It was just eight o'clock p.m. by the time that we had completed our preparations , and I then made half the men lie down , which they did , falling instantly asleep . This of course necessitated increased vigilance on the part of the watchers , each of whom had to guard a double length of parapet ; but the first hour passed peacefully away , and the sleepers were awakened in order that we might have our turn . It was really amusing , notwithstanding the gravity of our situation , to hear each man protest as he sat up and rubbed his eyes that we had not treated them fairly , and that they had only that moment fallen asleep . But when assured to the contrary they roused up at once , and I was greatly gratified to see that , short as had been their period of rest , it had undoubtedly done them a world of good .