midnight before
After dinner they were not idle , but spent the remainder of the evening in drying a portion of the meat over a fire . They had resolved to encamp on the spot for the night , and follow up the trail in the morning . They therefore busied themselves , until a late hour , in preparing as much broiled buffalo-meat as would last them for several days . It was near midnight before they thought of retiring to rest . As they had done upon like occasions before , it was agreed that one should keep watch -- so as to keep off the wolves from the meat -- while the other two slept . Their camp was in the open ground , near the spot where the buffalo had been skinned . At a little distance off their animals were browsing upon the grass .