About three o'clock
Out the gate sprinted them poor devoted chickens , and up the road they trailed in vain pursuit . The last we seen of 'em was a mingling of dust and dim figgers goin ' thirty mile an hour after a disappearin ' automobeel . That was all we seen for the moment . About three o'clock the first straggler came limpin ' in , his wings hangin ' , his mouth open , his eyes glazed with the heat . By sundown fourteen had returned . All the rest had disappeared utter ; we never seen 'em again . I reckon they just naturally run themselves into a sunstroke and died on the road .