noon
What awaited them at Pendleton ? Neither had heard from the town or anybody in it for a long time . Anticipation was not unmingled with anxiety . Two days later they entered a valley , and when they stopped at noon for their usual rest Harry Kenton rode some distance up a creek , thinking that he might rouse a deer out of the underbrush . Although the country looked extremely wild and particularly suited to game , he found none , but unwilling to give up he continued the hunt , riding much farther than he was aware . He was just thinking of the return , when he heard a rustling in a thicket to his right , and paused , thinking that it might be the deer he wanted . Instead , a gigantic figure with thick black hair and beard rose up in the bush .