noon
Here Joan ate and drank , and slept the deep sleep of exhaustion . Sunrise found them moving , and through the winding , wild canon they made fast travel . Both time and miles passed swiftly . At noon they reached the little open cabin , and they dismounted for a rest and a drink at the spring . Joan did not speak a word here . That she could look into the cabin where she had almost killed a bandit , and then , through silent , lonely weeks , had nursed him back to life , was a proof that the long ride and distance were helping her , sloughing away the dark deadlock to hope and brightness . They left the place exactly as they had found it , except that Cleve plucked the card from the bark of the balsam-tree -- Gulden 's ace -- of -- hearts target with its bullet -- holes .