noon
The outlook for an early departure was hailed with delight by the older foremen , and we younger and more impulsive ones yielded . The cook had orders to get up something extra for dinner , and we played cards and otherwise lounged around until the midday meal was announced as ready . A horse had been gotten up for Lovell to ride and was on picket , all the relieved men from the attached herd were at Bob 's wagon for dinner , and jokes and jollity graced the occasion . But near the middle of the noon repast , some one sighted a mounted man coming at a furious pace for the camp , and shortly the horseman dashed up and inquired for Lovell . We all arose , when the messenger dismounted and handed my employer a letter . Tearing open the missive , the old man read it and turned ashy pale . The message was from Mike Sutton , stating that a fourth member of the ring had arrived during the forenoon , accompanied by a United States marshal from the federal court at Omaha ; that the officer was armed with an order of injunctive relief ; that he had deputized thirty men whom Tolleston had gathered , and proposed taking possession of the two herds in question that afternoon .