Noon
Day was just breaking when the party laid down by the fire for a much needed rest . Pine needles were their beds that morning . No one had the ambition to help build a lean-to , nor did one care to wait for some one else to make it . Noon found them still asleep , with the exception of Grace , who had risen two hours earlier to get breakfast for Tom who was about to leave for his work , perhaps not to return for some weeks . The Overlanders were to make a permanent camp further down on the Little Big Branch , and , when Tom Gray returned from his first `` cruise , '' he was to follow the river until he found them . `` Rather indefinite , '' laughed Grace . `` However , you are n't much of a woodsman if you ca n't find us with such directions , though do n't cut off the bends in the river or you surely will miss us .