noon
When he asked them where they were going , they surlily replied that they were going to California . That would take them right up the road that he had come down , Sandy thought to himself . And he wondered if the boys at home would see the interesting sight of five hundred sheep going up the Republican Fork , bound for California . He reached the fort before noon ; and , with a heart beating high with pleasure , he rode into the grounds and made his way to the well-remembered sutler 's store where he had bought the candy , months before . He had a few pennies of his own , and he mentally resolved to spend these for raisins . Sandy had a `` sweet tooth '' , but , except for sugar and molasses , he had eaten nothing sweet since they were last at Fort Riley on their way westward . It was with a feeling of considerable importance that Sandy surveyed the interior of the sutler 's store .