about three o'clock
He sure has to pike in an ' change them bills afore he is spotted . So he goes to Pierre . '' Alfred staked his all on this reasoning and rode blindly eastward . Fortunately the roll of the country was sufficiently definite to enable him to keep his general direction well enough until about three o'clock , when the snow ceased and the stars came out , together with the waning moon . Twenty minutes later he came to the bed of a stream . `` Up or down ? '' queried Alfred , thoughtfully .