one o'clock
They were in a new buckboard , the gift of Pa Boyd , driving Midnight in harness . That same morning Charlie Bylow had left for Deadwood with his team and wagon . The latter was loaded with gifts from Cedar Mountain friends , some of them sufficiently absurd -- for example , framed chromos , a parrot cage , a home instructor in Spanish , and a self-rocking cradle -- but there was also a simple sufficiency of household furniture . The buckboard overtook the wagon in the morning and arrived at Deadwood by one o'clock . Jim was for going to the hotel and dining , but Belle thought it better to see the estate agent first , and within half an hour they had deposited the first month 's rent for the white cottage . Strange to tell , though the cottage had stood empty and uncalled for during the previous six months , there were two other applications on the afternoon that the Hartigans secured their lease . Their furniture arrived late in the day , and those who have watched newly-mated birds carry the sticks and straw of their first nest , will understand the joy experienced by Belle and Jim in planning , arranging , and rearranging this first home .