noon
We gave them a clean cloth until they needed us , but as they came up we divided out and were ready to give the lead a good push . If a cow changed his mind about taking a swim that morning , he changed it right back and took it . For in less than twenty minutes ' time they were all over , much to the surprise of the boss and his men ; besides , their weapons were quite dry ; just the splash had wet them . `` I told the boss that we would not need any help to cross ours , but to keep well out of our way , as we would try and cross by noon , which ought to give him a good five-mile start . Well , we crossed and nooned , lying around on purpose to give them a good lead , and when we hit the trail back in these sand-hills , there he was , not a mile ahead , and you can see there was no chance to get around . I intended to take the Dodge trail , from this creek where we are now , but there we were , blocked in ! I was getting a trifle wolfish over the way they were acting , so I rode forward to see what the trouble was . ''