noon
He was away on his romantic quest to serve the most splendid girl a man had ever loved ! As the morning progressed and the sun climbed higher and higher , Babe bore him through many camps , both large and small . At each he drew rein and made inquiry after an old prospector called Basil Filer , who drove six burros . No one had seen such a man , however , and Hiram continued on toward the north until noon . Then he stopped for dinner and to feed and rest the mare at Demarest , Spruce & Tillou 's Camp Number Two . They had come twenty-one miles that morning , he learned at dinner in the huge dining tent ; and when he started out again he held Babe in , because she was soft for want of exercise . On and on they traveled , nevertheless , Hiram making inquiry at every camp .