noon
`` If the trail had not been so bad to-day and I could have ridden beside you , I think I could have kept your thoughts here , sweetheart . '' `` I think you could have , Enoch , '' agreed Diana , with a wistful smile . The hunting had been good that day . Amongst them , the travelers had bagged numerous quail and cottontails , and Jonas had brought in at noon a huge jack rabbit . This they could not eat but its left hind foot , Jonas claimed , would make a sensation in Washington . Supper was a festive meal , Na-che producing a rabbit soup , and Jonas broiling the quail , which he served with hot biscuit that the most accomplished chef might have envied . After the meal was finished and Enoch and Diana were standing before the fire , debating the feasibility of a walk under the pines , Jonas and Na-che approached them solemnly .