noon
Around the ranche they see horses picketed and soldiers moving among them or standing in groups apart ; in short , a picture of military life in `` country quarters . '' Their point of view is too far off to identify individual forms or note the exact action carried on . This last , left to conjecture , is filled up by fancies of the most painful kind . For long hours are they constrained to endure them -- up to that of noon . Then , the notes of a bugle , rising clear above the hissing of the cascades , foretell a change in the spectacle . It is the call , `` Boots and saddles ! '' The soldiers are seen caparisoning their horses and standing by the stirrup .