midnight before
`` Yes ? Then that settles it , and it must have been foul play , '' cried Cameron , owning a doubt in its dismissal . `` And we must n't lose a single minute in getting on this blackguard 's tracks . '' Yet it was midnight before the little cavalcade set out upon a ride of over thirty miles , for arrangements had to be made for a telegram to be sent to the Glenranald coroner first thing in the morning , and to insure this it was necessary to disturb the postmaster , who occupied one of the three weather-board dwellings which constituted the roadside hamlet of Clear Corner . A round moon topped the sand-hills as the trio rode away ; it was near its almost dazzling zenith when they reined up at the scene of the murder . This was at a point where the sandy track ran through a belt of scrub , and the sergeant got off to examine the ground with Hardcastle , while Tyler mounted guard in the saddle . But nothing of importance was discovered by the pair on foot , and nothing seen or heard by their mounted comrade .