about nine
o'clock
At `` Starlight , '' however , nearly a mile away from us , all was silence and darkness . We had studied it curiously as we marched up along the west shore , and some of the men had asked permission to fall out and ride over there , `` just to see it , '' but Blake had refused . The Sandy was easily fordable on horseback anywhere , and the Crockers , for the convenience of their ranch people , had placed a lot of bowlders and heaps of stones in such position that they served as a foot-path opposite their corrals . But Blake said he would rather none of his people intruded at `` Starlight , '' and so it happened that we were around the fire when Gleason rode in about nine o'clock , and with him Lieutenant Baker , also the recreant Potts . `` You may retain command , Mr. Blake , '' said the former , thickly . `` I have an engagement this evening . '' In an instant Baker was at my side .