About midnight
But every farm and every village was a menace , and at first they were forced to make numerous detours . As the night grew older , however , they rode a straighter course , urging their horses to the limit , hoping against hope to reach the border before daylight overtook them . This they might have done had it not been for Father O'Malley and Dolores , who were unused to the saddle and unable to maintain the pace Juan set for them . About midnight the party stopped on the crest of a flinty ridge to give their horses breath and to estimate their progress . The night was fine and clear ; outlined against the sky were the stalks of countless sotol-plants standing slim and bare , like the upright lances of an army at rest ; ahead the road meandered across a mesa , covered with grama grass and black , formless blots of shrubbery . Father O'Malley groaned and shifted his weight . `` Juan tells me we 'll never reach Romero by morning , at this rate , '' he said ; and Dave was forced to agree .