one o'clock
He 's a poor trapper , and walks . '' `` Packhorses ai n't usually shod before and behind , '' said the Virginian ; and sliding to the ground he touched the footprints . `` They are not four hours old , '' said he . `` This bank 's in shadow by one o'clock , and the sun has not cooked them dusty . '' We continued on our way ; and although it seemed no very particular thing to me that a man should choose to walk and lead his horse for a while , -- I often did so to limber my muscles , -- nevertheless I began to catch the Virginian 's uncertain feeling about this traveller whose steps had appeared on our path in mid-journey , as if he had alighted from the mid-air , and to remind myself that he had come over the great face of rock from another trail and thus joined us , and that indigent trappers are to be found owning but a single horse and leading him with their belongings through the deepest solitudes of the mountains -- none of this quite brought back to me the comfort which had been mine since we left the cottonwoods out of sight down in the plain . Hence I called out sharply , `` What 's the matter now ? '' when the Virginian suddenly stopped his horse again .