midnight
Instinctively I was whipping the revolver from its holster and slipping forward , crouched in the protection of a rock , my eyes turned toward the jungle . Vaguely lurking in the gathering fog of shadow , where the palms began , were some eight or ten figures . It was impossible in the waning light to make out what sort of creatures they were , but they moved with a soft prowling tread that was disquieting . After a little while they melted out of sight , but until past midnight I sat my eyes alertly fixed on the tangled dark , while the low-hung stars paraded across the sky . The night , however , passed without event and morning came bathing the empty edge of the forest with crystal freshness . The scene I still had to myself . My morning journey down to the water 's edge for food and bathing was made with the most painful caution and I ate without relish .