about five in the afternoon
The next two days afforded rare enjoyment , for the slide was at its best , and the weather clear and bracing . But the afternoon of the third day was not so propitious . It began to grow cloudy at midday , and some light flakes of snow fell , as they ate their luncheon and drank their coffee , beside a fire of spruce and birch at the summit of the mountain , near the head of the slide . They continued till about five in the afternoon , however , when the snow began falling steadily , and they took their last slide . A party of three of them , Harvey and Henry Burns and George Warren , had proceeded nearly to the Ellison dam , on their way to Benton , when Henry Burns suddenly stopped , with an exclamation of annoyance . `` I 've got to go back , '' he said ; `` I 've left my buckskin gloves and Tom 's hatchet up by the fire . '' `` Oh , let 'em go till to-morrow , '' said Harvey , who was feeling hungry .