noon
`` I have my hands full now . '' The next morning the foreman said that he would give that day to the horses he was training , and sent Patches , alone , after the saddle and bridle which they had left near the scene of the accident . `` You ca n't miss finding the place again , '' he said to Patches ; `` just follow up the wash . You 'll be back by noon -- if you do n't try any experiments , '' he added laughing . Patches had ridden as far as the spot where he and Phil had met the Tailholt Mountain men , and was thirsty . He thought of the distance he had yet to go , and then of the return back to the ranch , in the heat of the day . He remembered that Phil had told him , as they were riding out the morning before , of a spring a little way up the small side canyon that opens into the main wash through that break in the ridge .