three o'clock
`` But he was a good distance away when we saw him through the glasses . '' `` Let us wait awhile -- until the awful heat of the midday sun is over , '' suggested Phil . `` The sunshine just now is enough to give one a sun-stroke . '' It was a little after three o'clock when the three lads prepared to walk along the back trail , on the lookout for the old miner . But just as they started Dave put up his hand . `` Listen ! '' All did so , and from a distance heard the clatter of horses ' hoofs on the rocky trail .