midnight
Just at dusk , mounted behind a sturdy little trooper , and well disguised , Job started back . They passed around Wawona by a side trail ; and , striking the main turnpike near its junction with the Signal Peak road , galloped on in the dark , fearing no recognition , and well prepared to meet anyone who demanded a halt . The light was burning in Aunty Perkins ' window as they passed . It was after midnight when they crept slowly down the timber on the other side of Rattlesnake Gulch , and Job dismounted and stole on ahead . A gloom rested on the Yellow Jacket . A few lights shone out of shanty windows and in saloons . The stars seemed to rest on the top of the smoke-stacks which rose like vast shadows in the distance .