noon
`` We follow um trail . '' `` Then let 's go back and get ready to move . '' The pair strode back without another word , the Indian 's admiration for the freckle-faced boy having increased greatly since Tad had beckoned him from the camp . Shortly after noon as they were casting about for a favorable place in which to make their mid-day halt , Ned Rector , who was riding to the right of the others , uttered a shout . `` What is it ? '' cried Tad . `` There has been a campfire here . ''