eleven o'clock until two
When he went out on day-herd that afternoon he fancied that he was getting into the midst of things and taking his place with the veterans . He would have been filled with resentment had he suspected the truth : that Park carefully eased those first days of his novitiate . That was why none of the night-guarding fell to him until they had left Billings many miles behind them . The third night he was detailed to stand with Bob MacGregor on the middle guard , which lasts from eleven o'clock until two . The outfit had camped near the head of a long , shallow basin that had a creek running through ; down the winding banks of it lay the white-tented camps of seven other trail-herds , the cattle making great brown blotches against the green at sundown . Thurston hoped they would all be there in the morning when the sun came up , so that he could get a picture . `` Aw , they 'll be miles away by then , '' Bob assured him unfeelingly .