noon
These quails ran in flocks of a dozen or less , and with the landing-nets we could cover the whole brood . We gathered them up , and put them into a large basket , with a cover , which we had brought with us for the purpose . We went several miles farther south than the party of the day before had gone ; and the shooting was so abundant as to be `` rather too much of a good thing . '' Before noon we had all we wanted , and it seemed to be wicked to shoot any more . The sportsmen from Enterprise had not been up as far as this , and the game had hardly ever been disturbed in its haunts . I was tired of the sport before the others , and I started back for the mule team about eleven . I was within two miles of the landing , as I judged , for we had to estimate all our distances , when I heard the crack of a revolver or a rifle .