noon
`` I am coming after you , and perhaps before night the blacks may show you their heels yet . '' `` There 's lots of room , '' said Aleck , scornfully , and they both set to work with all the skill and strength that lay in themselves and in their teams . For the first hour or two Ranald was contented to follow , letting his team take their way , but saving every moment he could by his own efforts . So that , without fretting his horses in the least , or without moving them perceptibly out of their ordinary gait , he found himself a little nearer to Aleck than he had been at noon ; but the heavy lifting and quick work began to tell upon him . His horses , he knew , would not stand very much hurrying . They were too fat for any extra exertion in such heat , and so Ranald was about to resign himself to defeat , when he observed that in the western sky clouds were coming up . At the same time a cool breeze began to blow , and he took fresh heart .