six o'clock
He had calculated that they would meet the stage at the half-way ranch and there he would tell Leslie what he had written his father . But no Leslie appeared . All the afternoon during the stage 's progress into the mountains , Ross looked for the sheriff and his prisoner , but he looked in vain . At six o'clock , Bill Travers dropped his one passenger in front of Steele 's shack , and Ross , climbing Gale 's Ridge , opened the door on the superintendent in the act of sitting down to supper . `` Hello , there ! '' cried Steele grasping the boy 's chilled hand . `` Here 's the best elk steak you ever planted your teeth in .