Noon
`` Carried a load , eh ? '' `` It looks like it . '' Oliver mounted , and they rode off to the swale . Noon was past when the captain called at the shack again . He found the surgeon gone , but his promise fulfilled : Food and medicine had gone far to revive his patients physically ; tears had mercifully combined with returning strength to right their minds . This time , the elder girl met Oliver with no incoherence , but with brave quiet . All her self-command had returned .