noon
Now all right , '' and the smile came back on Pedro 's face . But Thure noticed that the scowl returned again and again to his face that forenoon , as he walked along by the side of the pack-horses . `` Reckon the break in his sleep has made him cross , '' he thought , and gave the matter no more attention . At noon , when they stopped to give horses and selves a short rest and a chance to eat their dinners , Pedro slipped off behind a rock for some ten minutes ; and , when the journey was resumed , he lagged a little behind the others , pretending to be tightening one of the packs , and , once again , managed to slip , unseen , a little piece of paper under a stone and leave it near the camp-fire over which Mrs. Dickson had heated the coffee . This little feat seemed to fully restore his good-nature ; for there were no more scowls on his face that day . About the middle of the afternoon Dickson halted , where the stream along whose bank they had been walking for the last two hours forked , one branch flowing almost directly from the north and the other coming from the east , with a huge triangle of mountains widening out between them . `` Thither runs the trail to Humbug Canyon , '' and he pointed to the northern stream ; `` and thither runs the trail to Owl Gulch , '' and his finger turned to the eastern branch .