four in the afternoon
To the end , to the death if need were , he would follow ! The memory of his old plains craft would not permit any neglect of the few necessaries for the trip . He bought without haggling over prices , but insisted on the best . So it was four in the afternoon when he finally struck into the trail leading northward . This proved at first a broad , plainly marked path , across the alkali plain . He rode a mettlesome , half-broken bronco , a wicked-eyed brute , which required to be conquered twice within the first hour of travel ; a second and more quiet animal trailed behind at the end of a lariat , bearing the necessary equipment . Hampton forced the two into a rapid lope , striving to make the most possible out of the narrow margin of daylight remaining .