noon
His voice trailed away as he watched the disappearing Yankee cavalrymen , but somehow Drew thought he was seeing either more or less than blue-coated men riding under a sullen December sky . Yes , a long tally of battles , and all those small fights in between which sometimes a man could remember better than the big ones , remember too often and too well . `` The wagons pulled out of the Letterworth place this mornin ' , '' Drew said . `` They were gone when I stopped by at noon -- '' `` Goin ' south ? Any news of the kid ? '' `` They took him along . '' There was a faint ray of comfort in the thought that Boyd had been judged well enough to be moved with the rest of the sick and wounded up from the temporary hospitals and shelters in the neighborhood .