noon
It was a dry country and we were compelled to follow the McKavett and Fort Chadbourne trail . We had timed our drives so that we reached creeks once a day at least , sometimes oftener . It was the latter part of summer , and was unusually hot and drouthy . There was one drive of twenty-five miles ahead that the owner knew of without water , and we had planned this drive so as to reach it at noon , drive halfway , make a dry camp over night , and reach the pools by noon the next day . Imagine our chagrin on reaching the watering place to find the stream dry . We lost several hours riding up and down the _ arroyo _ in the hope of finding relief for the men , if not for the stock . It had been dusty for weeks .