hour from twelve to one
Cheyenne , as has been said , lay just three miles away , and thither Van would speed with long , elastic strides , as though glorying in his powers . It was at once his exercise and his enjoyment , and to his rider it was the best hour of the day . He rode alone , for no horse at Russell could keep alongside . He rode at full speed , for in all the twenty-four that hour from twelve to one was the only one he could call his own for recreation and for healthful exercise . He rode to Cheyenne that he might be present at the event of the day , -- the arrival of the trans-continental train from the East . He sometimes rode beyond , that he might meet the train when it was belated and race it back to town ; and this -- _ this _ was Van 's glory . The rolling prairie lay open and free on each side of the iron track , and Van soon learned to take his post upon a little mound whence the coming of the `` express '' could be marked , and , as it flared into sight from the darkness of the distant snow-shed , Van , all a-tremble with excitement , would begin to leap and plunge and tug at the bit and beg for the word to go .