There was a brilliant moon.

At Dade's invitation they all went down to the bunkhouse.

In spite of the dilapidated appearance of its exterior, the interior of the building was in comparatively good condition--due to the continual tinkering of Malcolm, who liked to spend his idle hours there--and Malcolm lighted a candle, placed it on the rough table, took a deck of cards from the shelf, and the three played "pitch" for two hours.

At the end of that time Malcolm said he was going to bed.

Dade signified that he intended doing likewise.