About one o'clock
There were no wild animals , except steers , to be met and these , he knew , would be in herds under the care of competent men . Besides a steer rarely attacks a man on a horse . So Roy rode through the long night . About one o'clock he stopped , built a little grease-wood fire , and warmed his bacon . Then he munched that and the bread with a good appetite , drinking some coffee the cook had given him in a flask . `` I ought to get to the ranch by sun-up , '' thought the boy , and he was not mistaken , for , when the golden ball peeped up over the prairies Roy saw the outbuildings of his father 's big cattle farm . A little later he had ridden up to the ranch house , and dismounted .