noon
The trail was very crooked . It seemed to him at such moments as he took note of this fact , he would save much time by riding due north , but he could not forget the Indian brothers ' reiterated warnings . And , although he could not throw off a sense of being driven , the desire to arrive somewhere quickly , still he was strangely content to let Pablo set the pace . At noon he dismounted , fed Pablo half the small bag of oats John had given him , and ate the cold bacon and biscuits John 's brother had urged on him . There was no water for the horse , but Enoch drank deeply from the canteen and allowed Pablo an hour 's rest . Then he mounted and pushed on , mindful of the necessity of overtaking the miners . His mind was less calm than it had been the day before , and his thinking less orderly .