three o'clock
The horses where unhitched and unsaddled , a fire built , cedar boughs gathered to make a bed on the rocky floor of the cave , and they threw themselves down upon this to sleep the sleep of utter weariness . In the meantime Harry had learned taht the new comers were cousins of Fortner 's , who , being out on a private scouting expedition , had been encountered by Aunt Debby and the others , near the summit of the mountain , and had started back with them to the assistance of Fortner . The sound of firing had so excited them that the suggestion of a charge by Kent Edwards was eagerly acceded to . `` It must be near three o'clock , '' said Kent , looking up at the stars , as he came back stealthily from laying the saddle blanket , which was the only covering he and Abe had , upon the sleeping form of Aunt Debby , `` and my downy couch still waits for me . My life-long habits of staid respectability have been greatly shaken recently . '' Abe groaned derisively . An inspection , the next morning of the wagon 's load , showed it to be mainly made up of hams , shoulders and sides , plundered from the smokehouses visited .