noon
The flat , which Andy knew very well -- having driven the bunch of cattle whose footprints had so elated Miss Allen -- he crossed uneasily . There were so many outlets to this rich little valley . He tried several of them , which took time ; and always when he came to soft earth and saw no track of the hoof that turned in toward the other , he would go back and ride into another gulch . And when you are told that these were many , and that much of the ground was rocky , and some was covered with a thick mat of grass , you will not be surprised that when Andy finally took up her trail in the canyon farthest to the right , it was well towards noon . He followed her easily enough until he came to the next valley , which he examined over and over before he found where she had left it to push deeper into the Badlands . And it was the same experience repeated when he came out of that gulch into another open space . He came into a network of gorges that would puzzle almost anyone , and stopped to water his horse and let him feed for an hour or so .