three in the morning
At the beginning the boys played cautiously , counting every card at its true worth in a hazard of chance . But as the game wore on and the more fortunate ones saw their chips increase , the weaker ones were gradually forced out . At midnight but five players remained in the game . By three in the morning the foreman lost his last bean , and ordered the men into their blankets , saying they must be in their saddles by dawn , riding the fences , scattering and locating the new cattle . As the men yawningly arose to obey , Dick Larkin defiantly said to the winners , `` I 've just got ten beans left , and I 'll cut high card with any man to see who takes mine or I take one of his poker steers . '' `` My father was killed in the battle of the Wilderness , '' replied Tex , `` and I 'm as game a breed as you are . I 'll match your beans and pit you my bar-circle-bar steer . ''