midnight
The slender young fellow in the grimy cap and overalls quietly stepped into the dark interior of the caboose . In the glare of the unclouded sunshine , breathing hard from his exertion , his hand grasped successively by Shiner and the three soldiers , the veteran trooper told his hurried tale , while , one after another , his followers , wellnigh exhausted , labored after him , and finally rolled stiffly to _ terra firma _ at the station , their wretched livery mounts , with dripping , quivering flanks and drooping heads , stood straddling close at hand , too utterly used up to stagger away . Nolan 's story was brief but explicit . Somebody in the swarm that overwhelmed the Narrow Gauge train the previous night had crept back to town after midnight and started the story that young Breifogle had been slugged by the gang . By early morning it got to the father 's ears . With the sheriff and some friends he had driven down in the wake of No. 4 , found plenty of men who could tell of the mobbing , but none who could tell of his son . The miners had scattered ; the few passengers also , glad that they were not `` wanted '' by that infuriated crowd .