twelve
o'clock
Once , even , toward noon , an entire plough was taken out of the line , so out of gear that a messenger had to be sent to the division forge to summon the machinist . Annixter had disappeared . He had ridden farther on to the other divisions of his ranch , to watch the work in progress there . At twelve o'clock , according to his orders , all the division superintendents put themselves in communication with him by means of the telephone wires that connected each of the division houses , reporting the condition of the work , the number of acres covered , the prospects of each plough traversing its daily average of twenty miles . At half-past twelve , Vanamee and the rest of the drivers ate their lunch in the field , the tin buckets having been distributed to them that morning after breakfast . But in the evening , the routine of the previous day was repeated , and Vanamee , unharnessing his team , riding one horse and leading the others , returned to the division barns and bunk-house . It was between six and seven o'clock .