noon
Even during the morning nothing came , and the silence seemed more ominous than the bad news of the early night . Routine business was almost suspended and McCloud and Rooney Lee kept the wires warm with inquiries , but neither the telephone nor the telegraph would yield any definite word as to what had actually happened in the Williams Cache fight . It was easy to fear the worst . At the noon hour McCloud was signing letters when Dicksie Dunning walked hurriedly up the hall and hesitated in the passageway before the open door of his office . He gave an exclamation as he pushed back his chair . She was in her riding-suit just as she had slipped from her saddle . `` Oh , Mr. McCloud , have you heard the awful news ?