nearly noon
When the herders rounded up the cattle , they found that several yoke of oxen were missing , and greatly alarmed , they said that they believed the Indians had stolen them during the night . Don Juan did not appear to be very anxious to search for the missing cattle himself , so he sent out the herders again after breakfast . They returned with the report of having found the tracks of Indians who had apparently driven the cattle toward the hills , and stated that they were afraid to follow , fearing for their lives . As it was nearly noon by this time , we cooked our dinner , and while doing so were visited again by a number of the Indians . Don Juan intimated to them that several of his oxen had strayed off during the night , and the Navajos kindly offered to go in search of them for a remuneration . They demanded a stack of tortillas a foot high and a sack of flour . Nolens-volens , squatted Don Mestal before the fire and baked bread for the wily Indians as a ransom for his cattle .