midnight
His telegram read : `` Coming on important business . '' That might mean concerning the mine -- on the surface ; but beneath ran something more vital to them both than any mine or labor war , something which developed in the girl both fear and wonder -- fear of the power that came from his eyes , wonder of the world his love had already opened to her . What was the meaning of this mad , sweet riot of the blood -- this forgetfulness of all the rest of the world -- this longing which was both pleasure and pain , doubt and delight , which turned her face to the West as though through a long , shining vista she saw love 's messenger speeding towards her ? Sleep kept afar , and she lay restlessly turning till long after midnight , and when she slept she dreamed , not of him , but of Sibley and her mother and the toil-filled , untroubled days of her girlhood . She rose early next morning and awaited his coming with more of physical weakness as well as of uncertainty of mind than she had ever known before . Haney was also up and about , an hour ahead of his schedule , sure that Ben 's business concerned the mine . `` It 's the labor war breaking out again , '' he repeated .