eleven
o'clock
The prisoner walked next , his hands tied behind him . Big Bill followed , and the man he had called Dud brought up the rear . They wound up a rising valley , entering from it a cañon with precipitous walls that shut out the late sun . It was by this time past eleven o'clock and dusk was gathering closer . The winding trail ran parallel with the creek , sometimes through thickets of young fir and sometimes across boulder beds that made traveling difficult and slow . They went in single file , each of them with a swarm of mosquitoes about his head . Macy had released the hands of his prisoner so that he might have a chance to fight the singing pests , but he kept a wary eye upon him and never let him move more than a few feet from him .