noon
Overhead on the horizon blazed the Southern Cross , while the moon afforded a good light . At seven in the morning the oxen were inspanned and they went forward until noon . On this occasion the General accompanied the boys , and they brought in enough game for the rest of the day and night . During their noon halt they met a freighter 's wagon-safari trekking west to some of the outlying ranches , but the men were all Boers or natives , and no stop was made . So during four days and nights they pushed on relentlessly . During the last two days they ran into a driving , cold rain , but finally this was gone and the boys found themselves on the verge of the heavily forested country about Mount Kenia . At the last stopping place , a shallow drift , or river , in a valley under the western slopes of the great hills , it was decided to make camp here beside the drift , as a sort of headquarters .