noon
Pressing on at a steady gait , he did not halt until some time after nightfall , and then built no fire , but ate a cold supper , staked his horse out , rolled up in his blankets , and was soon fast asleep . He rose early , and the coming of day found him several miles on his way from his night camp . About eight o'clock he halted , built a fire , broiled the steak of an antelope he had killed , some crackers and bacon , his horse faring well on the grass near-by . A rest of an hour and a half , and he was again in the saddle , keeping up the same steady gait until noon , when another halt was made for a couple of hours . On through the afternoon he urged his horse once more , halting only after nightfall . Two hours before daybreak he was in the saddle , and now his horse was pushed more rapidly forward , as though a long rest lay not very far ahead . It was two hours before noon when the worn-out horse pricked up his ears as he saw a flag fluttering in the skies a mile ahead .