about three o'clock
The lights of Ballarat had flickered out ; the whole field lay in darkness . The slow hours stole on , the sentinels were changed , and absolute quiet descended upon Eureka , for even the heroic blacksmith had stretched himself by his forge , and was sleeping , with the boy by his side . ` The swaddies are on us ! ' At about three o'clock that one fierce cry shook the camp into action . The men sprang from the ground ; there was an almost simultaneous rush into position -- the pikemen nearest the pickets , the rifle men to the left , the revolver corps to the right . It was a false alarm , but it gave Jim more confidence in the men , who had shown much better order than he had expected , and their promptness and determination pleased him . ` They 'll make a good fight of it when the swaddies do come , ' he said cheerfully , as they settled down in their blankets .