evening about five o'clock
Once or twice my head seemed jumping straight off my shoulders . No more going in a wagon over corduroy roads for me ! I 'd rather be leg-weary any day . '' The travellers halted that evening about five o'clock on the banks of a lonely stream . The guides pitched the two tents -- Joe had provided one for his party -- facing each other on a patch of clearing , with a space of about fifteen feet between them , in the centre of which blazed a roaring camp-fire . Now all the axes and knifes among the band were in demand for cutting and sharpening stakes and ridge-poles on which to stretch their canvas . Moreover , no evergreen boughs could be procured for beds ; and the boys had to work with a will , helping Uncle Eb and Joe to cut bundles of the long , rank grass that grew by the water to form a bed for their tired bodies .