noon
A second day and night passed , with the water gradually falling . The third morning a few of the best swimmers , tiring of the diet of beef and berries , took advantage of the current and swam to the other shore . On returning several hours later , they brought back word that Sponsilier had been up to the wagons the afternoon before and reported an easy crossing about five miles below . By noon the channel had narrowed to one hundred yards of swimming water , and plunging into it on our horses , we dined at the wagons and did justice to the spread . Both outfits were anxious to move , and once dinner was over , the commissaries were started down the river , while we turned up it , looking for a chance to swim back to the cattle . Forrest had secured a fresh mount of horses , and some distance above the dry wash we again took to the water , landing on the opposite side between a quarter and half mile below . Little time was lost in starting the herds , mine in the lead , while the wagons got away well in advance , accompanied by Forrest 's remuda and the isolated contingent of cattle .