ten o'clock
He did not , however , sleep , but lay with his trousers on and with his pipe in his mouth , trying to think . Every few minutes he took the pipe from his mouth , blew out a cloud of smoke and swore viciously . At ten o'clock the farmer , who had owned the cow-pasture back of his house and who still kept his cows there , saw his neighbor tramping about in the rain in the field and saying things he had planned to say on Main Street in the hearing of the entire town . The farmer also had gone to bed early , but at ten o'clock he decided that , as the rain continued to fall and as it was growing somewhat cold , he had better get up and let his cows into the barn . He did not dress , but threw a blanket about his shoulders and went out without a light . He let down the bars separating the field from the barnyard and then saw and heard Smoky Pete in the field . The blacksmith walked back and forth in the darkness , and as the farmer stood by the fence , began to talk in a loud voice .