afternoon about four o'clock
Everybody prepare to stand extra hours in the saddle . '' A line of outriders was established at once , and the herd pushed on , and for several days there were no evidences that any more of the cattle had been poisoned . They were nearing the river , as they could tell by the gradual sloping of the land to the east , and the flatness of the country . One afternoon about four o'clock Brock , one of the hired cow-punchers , came riding into camp as fast as his horse would run , and fell out of the saddle . He had been shot through the leg , and was almost insensible from loss of blood when he succeeded in getting in . When he was able to speak , he said to Ted : `` I was riding picket about two miles off to the west . As I topped a hill I saw a body of men about a quarter of a mile away .