four
o'clock
And so the old man sat his horse silently watching the army forming and marching down . But directly , as a Mississippi regiment passed by , he noticed at the head of one of the companies an old man , almost as old as himself , his clothes torn , and ragged from long marching ; shoeless , his feet tied up in sack-cloth and his old slouch hat aflop over his ears . But he did not complain , he stood erect , and gamely led his men into battle . As the company halted for a moment , General Travis rode up to the old man whose thin clothes could not keep him from shivering in the now chill air of late afternoon , for it was then past four o'clock , saluted him and said : `` Captain , will you do me the favor to pull off this boot ? '' Withdrawing his boot from the stirrup and thrusting it towards the old man , the latter looked at him a moment in surprise but sheathed his sword and complied with the request . `` And now the other one ? '' said Travis as he turned his horse around .