noon
said some of the men . All of them were sore distressed over the loss of Shannon . Two weeks had passed since they left the Yankton Sioux , and four times the faithful trailers had come back to the boats with no trace of the missing one . `` It certainly is in the off chance now , '' assented William Clark seriously , one day as they lay in the noon encampment . `` But perhaps he may be among the natives somewhere , and we may hear of him when we come back -- if ever we do . '' `` If he got by the Teton Sioux , and kept on up the river , in time he would find us somewhere among the Mandans , '' said Meriwether Lewis . `` But we will try once more before we give him up .