about midnight
His plan was adopted , and , while it had taken the native hunter several days to reach the borders of the dwarfs ' land , those in the airship made the trip in one day . That is , they came as far toward it as they thought would be safe , and one night , having located a landmark which Mr. Durban said was on the border , the nose of the Black Hawk was pointed downward , and soon they were encamped in a little clearing in the midst of the dense jungle which was all about them . With his electric rifle , Tom noiselessly killed some birds , very much like chicken , of which an excellent meal was made and then , as it became dark very early , and as nothing could be done , they lighted a campfire , and retired inside their craft to pass the night . It must have been about midnight that Tom , who was a light sleeper at times , was awakened by some noise outside the window near which his stateroom was . He sat up and listened , putting out his hand to where his rifle stood in the corner near his bunk . The lad heard stealthy footsteps pattering about on the deck of the airship . There was a soft , shuffling sound , such as a lion or a tiger makes , when walking on bare boards .