noon
Charleton jammed another sage-brush knot into the little stove . They were off at dawn . Douglas rode this day a young bay horse he had recently broken and named Pard . But though Pard was strong and willing , he lacked the skill of the Moose in running this rough country , and by noon Douglas was obliged to give up the pursuit of a dapple gray he had selected . He was far out on the plains when he made the decision to turn campward . To the distant south , in the Lost Chief ranges , a snowstorm was raging ; but Pard and Douglas were dripping with sweat , under a sweltering sun . Strange , thimble-shaped green hills , dotted the plains about them .