noon
Long before day broke they started . The cañons below were filled with mist as they rode down out of the mountains toward the crystal dawn that already flooded the plain . The court-house clock at Malapi said the time was midnight when the dust-covered men and horses drew into the town . The tired men slept till noon . At the Delmonico Restaurant they found Buck Byington and Steve Russell . The trail herd had been driven in an hour before . `` How 's old Alkali ? ''