midnight
The party had not got away from the scene of the round-up so very early in the morning ; and the detour to reach the herd of antelopes had taken considerable time . It was therefore well past noon when the tornado had sent the four schoolgirls scurrying for the old bears ' den . But by that time it was almost pitch dark outside as well as inside the cavern . The tornado had quenched the sunlight and made it seem more like midnight than mid-afternoon . The situation of the girls in the cavity in the west side of the gulch might not have been so awe-inspiring had it not been for the mysterious noise that had echoed and reechoed through the hollow rock . Rhoda hobbled the horses in the dark at one side of the cave , and did it just as skillfully as though she could see . It seemed to the other girls as though fooling around the ponies ' heels was a dangerous piece of work ; but the ranch girl laughed at them when they mentioned it .