midnight
The foreman ordered three men on the heaviest horses to split them . The men rode out a short distance to get the required momentum , wheeled their horses , and , wedge-shaped , struck this sea of cattle and entered , but it instantly closed in their wake as though it had been water . For an hour they rode through the herd , back and forth , now from this quarter , now from that , and finally the mill was broken . After midnight , as luck would have it , heavy dark clouds banked in the northwest , and lightning flashed , and before a single animal had lain down , a drizzling rain set in . That settled it ; it was an all-night job now . We drifted about hither and yon . Horses , men , and cattle turned their backs to the wind and rain and waited for morning .