Some of the ranchers' daughters had gone to sleep against their mothers' shoulders.
Billy, the stableman, and his assistant were awakened, and the teams were hitched up.

The stable yard was full of a maze of swinging lanterns and buggy lamps.

The horses fretted, champing the bits; the carry-alls creaked with the straining of leather and springs as they received their loads.

At every instant one heard the rattle of wheels as vehicle after vehicle disappeared in the night.
A fine, drizzling rain was falling, and the lamps began to show dim in a vague haze of orange light.
Magnus Derrick was the last to go.

At the doorway of the barn he found Annixter, the roll of names--which it had been decided he was to keep in his safe for the moment--under his arm.