five o'clock
Even the adjutant had not seen the despatch , and the operator was sworn to secrecy . He had reported by wire , and in these words : `` Discreet officer and twenty cavalrymen left post at noon with orders to hasten to Ogallalla agency and report to Lieutenant Boynton for temporary duty . '' This was sent at 1.15 , and he had only just received another inquiring name of the officer detailed . This he did not mean to answer until after five o'clock , by which time he knew the Omaha offices would be deserted and Davies some thirty miles away . `` The horses are hard and sound , '' he had said to the silent subaltern . `` You should reach there Friday morning without fail and without fatigue , and ought to camp to-night at Dismal River . It 's a long thirty miles , but you can easily make it . ''