midnight
At this outburst of eagerness he turned to the crowd in the corral . `` You wait five minutes and Gail will be here . He 's gettin ' into sight out yonder now , '' he declared . Another shout , a rush for the open , and a straining of eyes to make sure of the lone rider coming swiftly down the trail I had followed out at midnight . And amid a wild swinging of hats and whoops of joy I rode into camp , hugged by Beverly and questioned by everybody , eager for my story from the time I left the camp until I rode into it again . `` They took me to Pawnee Rock before they let me know anything , except that my scalp would hang to the old chief 's war-spear if I tried one eye-wink to get away from them . But they let me keep my gun , and I took it for a sign , '' I told the company .