about ten o'clock
Kerr found the request reasonable , and ordered Hargus to tie Lambert 's hands at his back . `` I guess you might as well take your last ride comfortable , kid , '' Hargus commented , as he shifted the bonds . They proceeded at a trot , keeping it up for two hours or more . Lambert knew it was about ten o'clock when he stopped to investigate the man in the road . There was a feel in the air now that told him it was far past the turn of night . He knew about where they were in relation to the ranch by this time , for a man who lives in the open places develops his sense of direction until it serves him as a mole 's in its underground tunneling . There was no talking among his conductors , no sound but the tramp of the horses in unceasing trot , the scraping of the bushes on the stirrups as they passed .