six o'clock
He got up , grunting , and leading the horse beside a boulder , climbed painfully into the saddle . To relieve his depression he addressed the horse : `` It would be easier on both of us if you were two feet narrower in the beam , old dear , '' he said . Nevertheless , he made good time . By six o'clock he knew that he must have made thirty odd miles , and that he must be near the cabin . Also that it was going to be bitterly cold that night , under the snow fields , and that he had brought no wood axe . The deep valley was purple with twilight by seven , and he could scarcely see the rough-drawn trail map he had been following . And the trail grew increasingly bad .