midday
`` When I was shurf -- '' The enlivened jumble of voices , each proclaiming the owner 's hopes or desires or disbelief to ears that were not listening , quite submerged Applehead 's remarks upon the subject of his wellknown prowess when he was `` shurf . '' The Happy Family were sprawled in unwonted luxury on the shady side of an outcropping of rock from under which a little spring seeped and made a small oasis in the general barrenness . They had shade , they Had water and food , and through the thin aromatic smoke of their cigarettes they could watch their horses cropping avidly the green grass that meant so much to them . The knowledge that an hour later they would be traveling again in the blazing heat of midday but emphasized their present comfort . They were enjoying every minute to its full sixty seconds . Laughter came easily and the hardships of the trail were pushed into the background of their minds . They were not particularly anxious over the success or failure of Luck 's trip to the hogans .