noon
For six hours the Overland girl employed all her knowledge of the open in an effort to pick up the trail of the mountaineers , but the trail appeared to end abruptly at the bank of the creek . Not even the hoofprints of horses could be found on the softer ground a short distance back from the stream . There are tricks in masking one 's trail that the Kentucky mountaineers had learned from generations of feuds and attacks by revenue agents , which Grace Harlowe knew nothing of . At noon she gave up the attempt to find the trail over which Hippy Wingate had been taken , and started back towards the camp . `` What luck ? '' called Nora , as she appeared at the edge of the clearing where the camp was pitched . `` None .