two o'clock
He was in a quiver of eager excitement . He knew from the Boy 's talk that he was going , too . He wagged his tail , pushed his warm nose under his little friend 's arm , whining and trembling while he tried to explain what it meant to strike a coon 's trail in the deep night , chase him over miles of woods and swamps and field , tree him and fight it out , a battle to the death between dog and beast ! At two o'clock , before day , his father 's voice called and in a jiffy he was down the ladder , his eyes shining . He had gone to sleep with his clothes on and lost no time in dressing . Without delay the start was made . Down the dim pathway to the creek and then along its banks for two miles , its laughing waters rippling soft music amid the shadows , or gleaming white and mirror-like in the starlit open spaces .