seven o'clock
`` I do n't think we 'll try to pass them , '' Smoke said . `` We 're at the head of the stampede , and there are only four of us . '' Shorty agreed , and another hour of silence followed , during which they swung steadily along . At seven o'clock , the blackness was broken by a last display of the aurora borealis , which showed to the west a broad opening between snow-clad mountains . `` Squaw Creek ! '' Joy exclaimed . `` Goin ' some , '' Shorty exulted .