noon
Dismay , therefore , smote the ranch , when Mackenzie announced one morning that Black Joe had broken out and was gone . `` He ca n't be far away , '' said French ; `` take a circle round towards the east . He has likely gone off with Garneau 's bunch . '' But at noon Mackenzie rode back to report that nowhere could the stallion be seen , that he had rounded up Garneau 's ponies without coming across any sign of the stallion . `` I am afraid he has got across the Eagle , '' said French , `` and if he has once got on to those plains , there will be the very deuce to pay . Well , get a move on , and try the country across the creek first . No , hold on .