about noon
There was something exhilarating in the air in spite of the heat . `` We do n't need the company of that greaser any further , '' said Captain Broom , after they had made some headway up a canyon back of the ranch buildings . So they took some rope grass , tough as manilla , and tied him firmly , and , after having gagged him , they left him to be found later by some of his countrymen . Then they toiled steadily up the trail of the canyon , until about noon they reached a pocket in the canyon where there was a pool of clear water fed by an invisible spring . Coming to meet them were four boys riding up the trail on the other side of the range . Under the guidance of the Mexican dwarf , the four boys came at last to a halt . It seemed as if the canyon down which they had been riding had come to an end for there was a wall of rock directly in front of them .