half past three in
the morning
It was then after midnight , and within another half hour we had the cattle bedded down within a few hundred yards of the trail . One-hour guards was the order of the night , and as soon as our wagon and saddle horses came up , we stretched ropes and caught out our night horses . These we either tied to the wagon wheels or picketed near at hand , and then we sought our blankets for a few hours ' sleep . It was half past three in the morning when our guard was called , and before the hour passed , the first signs of day were visible in the east . But even before our watch had ended , Flood and the last guard came to our relief , and we pushed the sleeping cattle off the bed ground and started them grazing forward . Cattle will not graze freely in a heavy dew or too early in the morning , and before the sun was high enough to dry the grass , we had put several miles behind us . When the sun was about an hour high , the remainder of the outfit overtook us , and shortly afterward the wagon and saddle horses passed on up the trail , from which it was evident that `` breakfast would be served in the dining car ahead , '' as the traveled Priest aptly put it .