about ten o'clock
Here his cows ranged the canyons and the hills for miles , and his horses were known from Medicine Bend to Fort Tracy . Here he rallied his men , laid snares for his enemies , dispensed a reckless hospitality , ruled his men with an oath and a blow , and carried a six-shooter to explain orders and answer questions with . Over the Gridley trail from the Crawling Stone Marion and Dicksie Dunning rode early in the morning the day after McCloud and his men left the Stone Ranch with their work done . The trail is a good three hours long , and they reached Sinclair 's place at about ten o'clock . He was waiting for Marion -- she had sent word she should come -- and he came out of the front door into the sunshine with a smile of welcome when he saw Dicksie with her . Dicksie , long an admirer of Sinclair 's , as women usually were , had recast somewhat violently her opinions of him . She faced him now with a criminal consciousness that she knew too much .