seven o'clock in the evening
The connection from Los Muertos to Quien Sabe was made through Bonneville , and in those troublesome times no one could be trusted . It could not be known who would overhear conversations carried on over the lines . He assured Magnus that he would be on hand . The time for the Committee meeting had been set for seven o'clock in the evening , in order to accommodate Lyman , who wrote that he would be down on the evening train , but would be compelled , by pressure of business , to return to the city early the next morning . At the time appointed , the men composing the Committee gathered about the table in the dining-room of the Los Muertos ranch house . It was almost a reproduction of the scene of the famous evening when Osterman had proposed the plan of the Ranchers ' Railroad Commission . Magnus Derrick sat at the head of the table , in his buttoned frock coat .