hours after noon
Several times I thought we were on the point of overtaking the men , but on each occasion they managed to elude us . Whether they still fancied that Indians were following them , we could not tell . Possibly they might have guessed that we were white men , though they could not tell the number of our party , and at all events did not think it worth while to hazard a conflict , now that they had obtained the object of their expedition . How far off Silas Bracher 's train was encamped we were uncertain , but we knew that the men could not possibly reach it , if it was on the usual route , until some hours after noon , indeed they could not get out of the wood bordering the lake , until daylight . `` Can you go on , Mike ? '' asked Mr Tidey . `` I will until I drop , and I do n't feel at all inclined to do that just yet , '' I answered .