About ten o'clock
Two days passed . We arose the morning of the third to find that the oxen had strayed away during the night . Deciding they could not have wandered far , I went to my gold washing as usual , leaving Woodruff and his brother to hunt them up . About ten o'clock they came to my claim very much troubled . `` We ca n't find them anywhere , '' they told me , `` and it does n't seem natural that they should stray far ; they are too tired . '' I knocked off work , and returned with them to the flat , where we proceeded to look for tracks . The earth was too hard and tramped to show us much , and after a half hour of fruitless examination we returned to camp with the intention of eating something before starting out on a serious search .