noon before
No wonder them Greasers are fighting among themselves all the endurin ' time . It 's the _ frijoles _ they eat makes 'em so fractious -- sure is ! '' Frances wrote out a list of the goods needed , for the next supply wagon that passed this way to drop at the camp , and looked over the outfit in general in order to report fully to Sam and her father regarding the conditions at the West Run . It was high noon before she got in sight of the cottonwoods on her homeward trail . She was hurrying Molly , for she did not want to keep Ratty M'Gill waiting for his money . As she had told him , she wanted the reckless cowboy off the Bar-T ranges before nightfall . She had struck the plain above the river ford when she sighted a single rider far ahead , and going in her own direction .