nearly noon
She came within his reach and with a quick grab he caught and held her two hind legs with both hands while Kearton bound them together with a piece of light line . The rest was easy . In less than five minutes she was bound securely and lowered all the way to the ground to rest in the shade . It was nearly noon , and time to call a halt to let the heat of the day pass over before attempting to bring her back to camp . Porters were sent to fetch food and more water , horses were off-saddled and turned loose to graze , and one by one the dogs came straggling in . The men stretched themselves out on the ground where a bush or a tree afforded some protection from the sun . But the Colonel kept wandering over to the prize , to examine a knot , to arrange a better shade , or to pour the last drops of water from his canteen into her open mouth .