noon
The next morning we were furnished fresh horses , and one of us was requested , as we were strangers , to ride down the country and reconnoitre the advance of the defiant drovers . As I was fearful that Field or Radcliff might be accompanying the herds , and recognize me , Sponsilier went instead , returning late that evening . `` Well , fellows , '' said Dave , as he dismounted at the quarantine camp , `` I 've seen the herds , and they propose to cross this dead-line of yours as easily as water goes through a gourd funnel . They 'll be here by noon to-morrow , and they 've got the big conversation right on tap to show that the government could n't feed its army if it was n't for a few big cowmen like them . There 's a strange corporal over the three herds and they 're working on five horses to the man . But the major-domo 's the whole works ; he 's a windy cuss , and intimates that he has a card or two up his sleeve that will put these quarantine guards to sleep when he springs them . He 's a new man to me ; at least he was n't with the gang at Ogalalla . ''