eleven o'clock in the morning
`` We had better keep close together after this , '' said Jack Wumble , as he was seeing the boys back to their hotel . `` I reckon you 've got a mighty bad crowd to deal with . '' And he remained with them for the balance of the night . The express for Denver left at eleven o'clock in the morning , and all of the party of four were on hand to catch it . Soon they were whirling over the fields and through the forests toward the mighty Mississippi River . `` Never been West afore-eh ? '' remarked Jack Wumble .