midnight
At night he thanked God for the sudden oasis in his life 's desolation . The Indians soon grew accustomed to the lonely figure wandering about the sand plains , or kneeling for hours together before the altar in the church . And whom their padre trusted was to them as sacred and impersonal as the wooden saints of their religion . The midnight stars watched over the mission . Framed by the cross-shaped window sunk deep in the adobe wall above the entrance , a mass of them assumed the form of the crucifix , throwing a golden trail full upon the Lady of Loreto , proud in her shining pearls . The long narrow body of the church seemed to have swallowed the shadows of the ages , and to yawn for more . De la Vega , booted and spurred , his serape folded about him , his sombrero on his head , opened the sacristy door and entered the church .