Wolves hunt in the dark.
Fishermen fish in the dark.

And the wise commander who would change his dispositions makes use of darkness, too.

Men who might disobey by daylight are like lambs when they can not see beyond the light a camp-fire throws.
But such things are mental, sahib, and not to be explained like the fire of heavy guns or the shock tactics of cavalry--although not one atom less effective.

If Ranjoor Singh had lined up the men and argued with them, there might have been mutiny.

Instead, when he judged the second ripe, he made sudden new dispositions in the night and gave them something else to think about without suggesting to their minds that he might be worried about them or suspicious of them.