nine o'clock
`` They '' would hardly reach him there . He would stay at Gold Mountain two or three months , and then work his way down into Mexico . McTeague tramped steadily forward , still descending the lower irregularities of the Panamint Range . By nine o'clock the slope flattened out abruptly ; the hills were behind him ; before him , to the east , all was level . He had reached the region where even the sand and sage-brush begin to dwindle , giving place to white , powdered alkali . The trails were numerous , but old and faint ; and they had been made by cattle , not by men . They led in all directions but one -- north , south , and west ; but not one , however faint , struck out towards the valley .