noon
A general canvass of the outfit was taken , and to my surprise there was over three hundred dollars amongst us . I had over forty dollars , but I only promised to loan mine if it was needed , while Priest refused flat-footed either to lend or bet his . I wanted to bet , and it would grieve me to the quick if there was any chance and I did n't take it -- but I was young then . Flood met us at noon about seven miles out from the Republican with the superintendent of a cattle company in Montana , and , before we started the herd after dinner , had sold our _ remuda _ , wagon , and mules for delivery at the nearest railroad point to the Blackfoot Agency sometime during September . This cattle company , so we afterwards learned from Flood , had headquarters at Helena , while their ranges were somewhere on the headwaters of the Missouri . But the sale of the horses seemed to us an insignificant matter , compared with the race which was on the tapis ; and when Stallings had made the ablest talk of his life for the loan of the brown , Flood asked the new owner , a Texan himself , if he had any objections . `` Certainly not , '' said he ; `` let the boys have a little fun .