noon
But morning came at last , cool and cloudy , a slight recompense for the heat which we had endured since leaving Dodge . With the breaking of day , the herd was turned back on its course . For an hour or more the cattle grazed freely , and as the sun broke through the clouds , they dropped down like tired infantry on a march , and we allowed them an hour 's rest . We were still some three or four miles eastward of the trail , and after breakfasting and changing mounts we roused the cattle and started on an angle for the trail , expecting to intercept it before noon . There was some settlement in the Smoky River Valley which must be avoided , as in years past serious enmity had been engendered between settlers and drovers in consequence of the ravages of Texas fever among native cattle . I was riding on the left point , and when within a short distance of the trail , one of the boys called my attention to a loose herd of cattle , drifting south and fully two miles to the west of us . It was certainly something unusual , and as every man of us scanned them , a lone horseman was seen to ride across their front , and , turning them , continue on for our herd .