ten o'clock
`` No , '' replied Jimmy Grayson , `` we do n't deal in disguises ; when we 're hot we 're hot , and when we 're cold we 're cold . Now , after a perfect day , we 're having the wildest kind of a night . It 's our way . '' It was then ten o'clock , and they had expected to reach Speedwell at midnight , crossing the Platte River on the big wooden bridge ; but the rain , the darkness , and the singularly sticky quality of the black Nebraska mud would certainly delay them until one o'clock in the morning , and possibly much later . It was not a cheerful prospect for tired and sleepy men . `` Mr. Grayson , '' said Harley , `` without seeking to discredit you , I wish I had gone to another war instead of coming out here with you . That would have been less wearing . ''