noon
It was about a week after this that Dave was sent out again to look up some stray cattle . He was not riding his own pony Crow , who had , after all , developed a lame shoulder from his fall . So he was left in the stable for a day or two . As the animal Dave had was rather strange he took the precaution of staking him out as he halted for a bite to eat at noon . Dave was taking his nooning , resting lazily on the silent plain , when he heard a noise that caused him to rouse up suddenly . What he saw brought an exclamation of anger to his lips , for in the act of cutting the rope that held the somewhat restive pony was Len Molick . Dave had caught him in the nick of time .