midnight
The sun went down that day on nobody 's wrath , for Jacklin was so tickled that he offered to kill the fattest beef in his herd if we would stay overnight with him . All three of the herds were now over , but had not this herd balked on us the evening before , over nine thousand cattle would have crossed Slaughter 's bridge the day it was built . It was now late in the evening , and as we had to wait some little time to get our own horses , we stayed for supper . It was dark before we set out to overtake the herd , but the trail was plain , and letting our horses take their own time , we jollied along until after midnight . We might have missed the camp , but , by the merest chance , Priest sighted our camp-fire a mile off the trail , though it had burned to embers . On reaching camp , we changed saddles to our night horses , and , calling Officer , were ready for our watch . We were expecting the men on guard to call us any minute , and while Priest was explaining to Officer the trouble we had had in crossing the Millet herd , I dozed off to sleep there as I sat by the rekindled embers .