noon
It did not take long to rope the magpie pony and throw Stella 's saddle on it . Now they were off into the northeast , where the Wichita Mountains lay . None of them knew just where the Hole in the Wall was , but Ted felt confident of finding it if there was such a place . They rode so hard , only stopping at noon to water the ponies , that early in the afternoon they entered the mountains . As they were going up the valley they saw the flying figure of a man on horseback coming toward them . As he approached , they saw that he was a cavalryman . `` Hello , what 's up ? ''