noon
On returning to the vaqueros , we found a stranger among them , Bernabe Cruze by name , who was a _ muy amigo _ of Santiago Ortez , one of our Mexicans . He belonged at the Mission , and when he learned of our predicament offered to lend us his horse , as he expected to be in town a few days . The offer was gratefully accepted , and within a quarter of an hour Manuel Flores had started for Shepherd 's with an order to the merchant to send in seven horses for us . It was less than a two hours ' ride to the ferry , and with the early start we expected Manuel to return before noon . Making ourselves at home in a coffeehouse conducted by a Mexican , Deweese ordered a few bottles of wine to celebrate properly our drive and to entertain Cruze and our vaqueros . Before the horses arrived , those of us who had any money left spent it in the _ cantina _ , not wishing to carry it home , where it would be useless . The result was that on the return of Flores with mounts we were all about three sheets in the wind , reckless and defiant .