two o'clock in the morning
Yankee Bill had made the trip to Sumner with us the fall before , and stood well with his employers , so the incident was forgiven and forgotten . From Elm Creek to the beginning of the dry drive was one continual struggle with stampeding cattle or warding off Indians . In spite of careful handling , the herd became spoiled , and would run from the howl of a wolf or the snort of a horse . The dark hour before dawn was usually the crucial period , and until the arid belt was reached all hands were aroused at two o'clock in the morning . The start was timed so as to reach the dry drive during the full of the moon , and although it was a test of endurance for man and beast , there was relief in the desert waste -- from the lurking savage -- which recompensed for its severity . Three sleepless nights were borne without a murmur , and on our reaching Horsehead Crossing and watering the cattle they were turned back on the mesa and freed for the time being . The presence of Indian sign around the ford was the reason for turning loose , but at the round-up the next morning the experiment proved a costly one , as three hundred and sixty-three beeves were missing .