noon
There had been nothing said about the remudas before leaving , and while we had an abundance of horses , no one knew them better than I did . For that reason I wanted to be present when their allotment was made , for I knew that every foreman would try to get the best mounts , and I did not propose to stand behind the door and take the culls . Many of the horses had not had a saddle on them in eight months , while all of them had run idle during the winter in a large mesquite pasture and were in fine condition with the opening of spring . So bidding my folks farewell , I saddled at noon and took a cross-country course for the ranch , covering the hundred and odd miles in a day and a half . Reaching headquarters late at night , I found that active preparations had been going on during my absence . There were new wagons to rig , harness to oil , and a carpenter was then at work building chuck-boxes for each of the six commissaries . A wholesale house in the city had shipped out a stock of staple supplies , almost large enough to start a store .