six o'clock
At last all the sounds blended and faded , and she fell asleep , lulled by the song that the eldest brother was singing to the herd . At three o'clock the following afternoon , though they had gone at a grazing pace since sun-up , they arrived in sight of the post and halted a mile away from the nearest dugout . The little girl and the dogs remained with the cattle while the eldest brother cantered in to report his arrival . When he returned , a young lieutenant came with him to inspect the drove ; and by six o'clock the beeves had been declared satisfactory and were in a stockade pen behind the barracks . Then the eldest brother , his belt heavy with good government coin , rode with the little girl toward the hotel , a rough , one-story building flanked on either side by a gambling-house . They ate their supper in the small , unpapered parlor which adjoined the bar , for the eldest brother had looked into the dining-room and found it as thick with smoke and men as the saloon . When the meal , which was served by an Indian woman , was over , the little girl remained quietly in her chair while the eldest brother went out to sell the pack-pony .