noon
In this work all bore a hand . The lines to be used were made of rawhide , which would have been slippery except for the large knots tied every foot or so to give a good handhold . Of course , in all this , as much in as out of the water , pretty much every one in the party got soaked to the skin , but this was accepted as part of the day 's work , and they all went steadily on down the stream , putting mile after mile behind them , and opening up at every bend additional vistas of splendid mountain prospects . At noon they paused to boil the tea-kettle , but made only a short stop . So steady had been their journey that when they pitched camp for the night on a little beach they estimated that their progress had been more than that of a pack-train in a good day 's travel . That night they had for supper some fresh grouse , or `` fool-hens , '' which fell to Jesse 's rifle out of a covey which perched in the bushes not far from their camp-site . They passed a very jovial night in this camp , well content alike with their advance and with the prospects which now they felt lay before them .