noon
The railroads are a-coming in , towns are building up , and one of these days the desperadoes and stage-coach robbers will all be a thing of the past -- and a good job done . '' The third horse had been found , and now Joe was riding in his own saddle . The rain of the night before had made the trail dustless , and the air was as pure and sweet as one could wish . By noon they calculated that they had covered ten miles of the worst portion of the distance to the fort . The ride had been a strain to Joe , and when old Benson called a halt he was glad enough to slip to the ground and throw himself in the shade of a tree to rest . Darry and the old scout lit a fire , and soon had a nice steak preparing for dinner . `` He 's asleep , '' said Darry , a little later , pointing to Joe .