About two o'clock
They knew that this was the highest stake they had ever played ; they were striking at the chief man of the county , and had stolen the best horses on his plantation . Should the heavy hand of justice smite them , it would be a stunning blow . The voice of conscience was not utterly dead , and it aroused fears in their hearts that they were not willing to acknowledge even to themselves ; but , like many other desperate men , their very alarm occasioned a fiercer determination to show a bold front . About two o'clock that morning honest David Hester , who lived about fifteen miles distant from Judge LeMonde , was awakened from his deep sleep by a pounding in his barn , which stood not far from his house . Honest David knew at once what was the matter , -- his horse Jim was kicking in his stall . This valuable beast had a habit at irregular intervals of kicking and pawing in the barn . Once or twice his restless feeling had made him use his legs so vigorously that he was thrown in his stall ; and if his owner had not come to his help , he might have been fatally hurt .