noon
The office is a red-tape one , anyhow , and little harm in taking all the advantage you can . -- This item marked ` sundries ' was DRY goods , I suppose ? All right , Quirk ; I reckon rattlesnakes were rather rabid this spring . '' By noon the herd had grazed out five miles on its way . The boys were so anxious to get off that on my return the camp was deserted with the exception of the cook and the horse-wrangler , none even returning for dinner . Before leaving I had lunched at Los Lobos with its owner , and on reaching the wagon , Levering and I assisted the cook to harness in and start the commissary . The general course of the Nueces River was southeast by northwest , and as our route lay on the latter angle , the herd would follow up the valley for the first day .