noon
`` Anyhow , you did n't have a Sharp 's in that fight -- you had a .45-70 Winchester , just like mine ! '' Thereupon the discussion was directed at the judge , and the forenoon passed very pleasantly , Frenchy even smiling in his misery . CHAPTER XIX . Hopalong 's Decision Shortly after noon , Hopalong , who had ridden with his head bowed low in meditation , looked up and slapped his thigh . Then he looked at Red and grinned . `` Look ahere , Red , '' he began , `` there ai n't no rustlers with their headquarters on this God-forsaken sand heap , an ' there never was . They have to have water an ' lots of it , too , an ' th ' nearest of any account is th ' Pecos , or some of them streams over in th ' Panhandle .