noon
Cattle are loath to leave a dry bed , and on throwing open the corral gates , it was often necessary to enter and arouse the herd . Thereafter , under normal conditions , it was a matter of pointing , keeping up the drag cattle , allowing the herd to spread and graze , and contracting and relaxing as occasion required . In handling , it was a decided advantage that the little nucleus had known herd restraint , in trailing overland from Texas , and were obedient , at a distance of fifty yards , to the slightest whistle or pressure of a herdsman . Under favorable conditions , the cattle could be depended on to graze until noon , when they were allowed an hour 's rest , and the circle homeward was timed so as to reach the corral and water by sunset . The duties of each day were a repetition of the previous one , the moods of the old and younger cattle , sedate and frolicsome , affording the only variety to the monotony of the task . `` Holding these cattle is going to be no trouble at all , '' said Dell , as they rode homeward , at the end of the first day 's herding . `` My horse never wet a hair to-day . ''