noon
Cribbens resented their humor , and after they had passed , chewed fiercely on his mustache . `` I 'd like to make a strike , b ` God ! if it was only to get the laugh on them joshers . '' By noon they were climbing the eastern slope of the Panamint Range . Long since they had abandoned the road ; vegetation ceased ; not a tree was in sight . They followed faint cattle trails that led from one water hole to another . By degrees these water holes grew dryer and dryer , and at three o'clock Cribbens halted and filled their canteens .