about midnight
To my agreeable surprise , instead of a sheriff 's posse , my brother and five of his men galloped up and overtook us . `` Well , Tom , it 's a good thing you moved last night , '' said Bob , as he reined in his reeking horse . `` A deputy sheriff and posse of six men had me under arrest all night , thinking I was the Quirk who had charge of Don Lovell 's ` Open A ' herd . Yes , they came to my camp about midnight , and I admitted that my name was Quirk and that we were holding Lovell 's cattle . They guarded me until morning , -- I slept like an innocent babe myself , -- when the discovery was made that my herd was in a ` Circle Dot ' road-brand instead of an ` Open A , ' which their warrant called for . Besides , I proved by fourteen competent witnesses , who had known me for years , that my name was Robert Burns Quirk . My outfit told the posse that the herd they were looking for were camped three miles below , but had left during the afternoon before , and no doubt were then beyond their bailiwick .