about four in the afternoon
Three mules which could not rise were left where they lay , feebly struggling to regain their feet and follow their comrades , but falling back with hollow groanings and a kind of human despair in their faces . Mile after mile the retreat continued , always at a walk , but without halting . It was long before the Apaches were seen again , for the ascent of the plateau lost them a considerable space , and after that they were hidden for a time by its undulations . But about four in the afternoon , while the emigrants were still at least five miles from the river , a group of savage horsemen rose on a knoll not more than three miles behind , and uttered a yell of triumph . There was a brief panic , and another attempt to push the animals , which Thurstane checked with levelled pistol . The train had already entered a gully . As this gully advanced it rapidly broadened and deepened into a cañon .