noon
`` You better take old Buck to pack your blankets and grub , '' he told him , in a matter-of-fact tone . `` We 'll be swinging down that way in two or three days ; by next Saturday you 'll find us camped at the mouth of Jump-off Coulee , if nothing happens . That 'll give you four days to prowl around . Come on , boys -- we 've got a big circle ahead of us this morning , and it 's going to be hot enough to singe the tails off our cayuses by noon . '' That , of course , settled the disturbance and set the official seal of approval upon Andy 's going ; for Chip was too wise to permit the affair to grow serious , and perhaps lose a man as good as Andy ; family quarrels had not been entirely unknown among the boys of the Flying U , and with tact they never had been more than a passing unpleasantness . So that , although Jack Bates swore vengeance and nursed sundry bruised spots on his face , and though Andy saddled , packed old Buck with his blankets and meager camp outfit and rode off sullenly with no word to anyone and only a scowling glance or two for farewell , Chip mounted and rode cheerfully away at the head of his Happy Family , worrying not at all over the outcome . `` I 've got half a notion that Andy was telling the truth , after all , '' he remarked to Weary when they were well away from camp .