ten o'clock
Every now and then he would step forth into the night and make a circuit of the buildings , exchange a word in low tone with some invisible guardian , for , heavily armed , the employés were gathered at the main building , and the wife and children of the chief herdsman were assigned to a room under its roof . Particularly did Folsom pet and encourage the dogs , two of them splendid mastiffs in whom Hal took unusual pride . Then he would return to his son 's bedside , bend anxiously over him and lay a loving hand on Pappoose 's lustrous hair . It must have been ten o'clock and a night wind was rising , making the occasional cry of the coyotes even more weird and querulous , when they heard the sudden , fierce challenge of Trooper , the keenest , finest of the mastiffs , and instantly his bark was echoed by the rush and scurry of every canine on the place . The men on the porch sprang to their feet and Folsom hastened out to join them . The dogs had charged in the darkness toward the northeast , and somewhere out in that direction were now all furiously barking . Aloft the skies were heavily clouded .