about five o'clock
Before him he drove his mule , laden with blankets , provisions for six days , Cribben 's rifle , and a canteen full of water . Securely bound to the pommel of the saddle was the canvas sack with its precious five thousand dollars , all in twenty-dollar gold pieces . But strange enough in that horrid waste of sand and sage was the object that McTeague himself persistently carried -- the canary in its cage , about which he had carefully wrapped a couple of old flour-bags . At about five o'clock that morning McTeague had crossed several trails which seemed to be converging , and , guessing that they led to a water hole , had followed one of them and had brought up at a sort of small sundried sink which nevertheless contained a little water at the bottom . He had watered the mule here , refilled the canteen , and drank deep himself . He had also dampened the old flour-sacks around the bird cage to protect the little canary as far as possible from the heat that he knew would increase now with every hour . He had made ready to go forward again , but had paused irresolute again , hesitating for the last time .