midnight
`` Well , '' I said ; `` did you find any feathers ? '' `` I did , '' he answered ; `` fresh ones from the meanest bird of the flock , an ' he 's flyin ' low . I think that first turn into the Stone Coal fooled him . But he will know better by midnight . '' Then I understood it was horse tracks he had been looking for . `` How do you know he 's trailing us ? '' I asked .