noon
With a snap the rope parted and the black dashed away into the night , leaving the cowboy snoring confidently by the camp-fire . All night he ran , on and on in the darkness , stopping only to listen tremblingly to the echo of his own hoofs and to sniff suspiciously at the crouching shadows of innocent bushes . By morning he had left the Bar L outfit many miles behind , and when the red sun rolled up over the edge of the prairie he saw that he was alone in a field that stretched unbroken to the circling sky-line . Not until noon did the runaway black scent water . Half mad with thirst he dashed to the edge of a muddy little stream and sucked down a great draught . As he raised his head he saw standing poised above him on the opposite bank , with ears laid menacingly flat and nostrils aquiver in nervous palpitation , a buckskin-colored stallion . Snorting from fright the black wheeled and ran .