three o'clock
Just beyond the Mission , the road bent abruptly eastward , striking off across the Seed ranch . But Presley left the road at this point , going on across the open fields . There was no longer any trail . It was toward three o'clock . The sun still spun , a silent , blazing disc , high in the heavens , and tramping through the clods of uneven , broken plough was fatiguing work . The slope of the lowest foothills begun , the surface of the country became rolling , and , suddenly , as he topped a higher ridge , Presley came upon the sheep . Already he had passed the larger part of the herd -- an intervening rise of ground having hidden it from sight .