about noon
The humor he spoke of seemed to have passed them by , leaving them quite untouched by its point . And presently they drifted away , joining other groups , where the reminder that Bill had been derided by the whole camp for his absurd purchase had an equally damping effect . But the day was to be more eventful even than the promise of the morning had suggested . And the second surprise came about noon . Excitement was still raging . Half the camp was down at Zip 's claim watching the miracle of the oil gusher , and the other half was either on their way thither or returning from it . Some of them were gathering the raw oil in cans and tubs , others were hurrying to do so .