midnight
But there ai n't no kind o ' use to spile it all by rampaging ` round too soon . '' There was wisdom undeniable in this , and , accordingly , we waited , taking turns at the hunter 's terrible pipe in lieu of supper , and laying our plan of attack . This last was simple enough , as our resources , or rather our lack of them , would make it . At midnight we would move upon the enemy , feeling our way along the river till we should discover the ford by which the captive party had crossed . The stream safely passed , we would deploy and surround the camp of the Indians , and at the signal , which was to be the report of Yeates 's rifle , we were to close in and smite , giving no quarter . The old borderer dwelt at length upon the need for this severity , saying that a single Cherokee escaping would bring the warriors of the Erati tribe down upon us to cut off all chance of our retreat with the women . `` Onless I 'm mightily out o ' my reckoning , this here spot we 're a-setting on ai n't more than a day 's Injun-running from the Tuckasege Towns .