about eleven o'clock
From four o'clock in the morning till nearly noon they toiled across the sod , now ploughing through the deep snow where the unburned grass had held it , now scraping across the bare , burned earth , now wandering up or down the swales , seeking the shallowest places , now shovelling a pathway through . The sun rose unobscured as usual , and shone down with unusual warmth , which afforded the men the satisfaction of seeing little Flaxen warm and merry . She chattered away in her own tongue , and clapped her little hands in glee at sight of the snowbirds running and fluttering about . As they approached the low hills the swales got deeper and more difficult to cross , but about eleven o'clock they came to Burdon 's Ranch , a sort of half-way haven between their own claim and Summit , the end of the railway . Captain Burdon was away , but Mrs. Burdon , a big , slatternly Missourian , with all the kindliness of a universal mother in her swarthy face and flaccid bosom , ushered them into the cave-like dwelling set in the sunny side of Water Moccasin . `` Set down , set right down . Young uns , git out some o ' them cheers an ' let the strangers set .