noon
`` To-night , '' said Smith , `` we water our horses in the Rio Grande . '' `` And then ho for Texas ! '' said Obed . On they sped , their even pace unbroken until noon , when they made a short rest for food and water . Then they sped north once more , Bowie , Smith and Karnes leading the way . They said very little now , but every one in the group was thinking of the scattered Texans , of the women and children in the little cabins beyond the Rio Grande , harried already by Comanches and Lipans and now threatened by a great Mexican force . They had come from different states and often they were of differing counsels , but a common danger would draw them together .