noon
At daybreak , that morning , Uncle Billy and his wife mounted the old gray horse and rode up the river to say good-by . They found the cabin in Lonesome Cove deserted . Many things were left piled in the porch ; the Tollivers had left apparently in a great hurry and the two old people were much mystified . Not until noon did they learn what the matter was . Only the night before a Tolliver had shot a Falin and the Falins had gathered to get revenge on Judd that night . The warning word had been brought to Lonesome Cove by Loretta Tolliver , and it had come straight from young Buck Falin himself . So June and old Judd and Bub had fled in the night .