noon
I had hoped to find a big crowd waiting to start off from that place . But everybody we have met coming in says that there are no freighters going west now . Usually there is no risk in coming alone from Council Grove to the Missouri River , and there is always opportunity for company at this end of the trail . '' We were sitting in a circle under the thin shade of some cottonwood-trees beside a little stream ; the air of noon , hot above our heads , was tempered with a light breeze from the southwest . As my uncle spoke , Rex glanced over at Mat Nivers , sitting beside him , and then gazed out thoughtfully across the stream . I had never thought her pretty before . But now her face , tanned by the sun and wind , had a richer glow on cheek and lip .