noon
`` They are the paddle wheels . I know , because I 've looked at pictures like them in my geography , '' replied Larry . `` They have the paddle wheels on the end because the water is so shallow in places . '' It was Just after noon that the two chums and Hans were vouchsafed a glimpse of real `` dyed-in-the-wool '' cowboys . The train had stopped at a crossing , as stations are known in Oklahoma , because of a hot-box on one of the wheels . Learning that it would be all of a quarter of an hour before the trouble could be repaired , the boys had left their car and were filling their lungs with the bracing air . It chanced that a gang of cowboys had ridden Into the town for a celebration and , as it was unusual for a train to stop for any length of time at the crossing , they rode up to find out the reason .