midday
She was a powerful ally . The situation was not so bad as it had seemed . He had been in tighter places , he told himself , and his spirits rose as he rode . Without the plodding cattle , they retraced their steps in half the time it had taken them to come , and it was not much after midday when they were sighted from the MacDonald ranch . The Indians that Smith had missed were at the ford to meet them : Bear Chief , Yellow Bird , Running Rabbit , and others , who were strangers to him . They followed as Ralston and Babe rode with their prisoner up the path to put him under guard in the bunk-house . Susie , McArthur , and Dora were at the door of the ranch-house , and Susie stepped out and stopped them when they would have passed .