noon
He lay thus all day , except at meal time , neither man caring to talk . All day long , they pushed north , over the hills , each hill and valley lower than the last . When they made their night camp , the snows were gone . The next day , too , they pursued ever-dropping trails , that disappeared toward noon , leaving Charleton to find his way through barren hills that were criss-crossed only by antelope and coyote tracks . At mid-afternoon , from the crest of one of these hills they beheld a winding , black river with a flush of green along its borders . They covered the miles to this at a trot and made their camp beside the rushing waters . The eager horses almost rended harness and halter in their desire to taste the budding grass around the sage-brush roots .