noon
The night passed without incident , and when the first trace of silver gray light shone above the eastern mesa beyond the rim of the Basin Abe Lee returned with Pat to find the meal ready and Barbara waiting to pour the fragrant coffee . While the sky was still aflame with the colors of the morning and the desert lay under a curtain of fantastic figures and grotesque patterns woven by the light , the three men mounted their horses and set out for the field of the day 's labors . And Barbara at the gate watched them go until , in the distance , their forms too were caught in the magic of the desert 's loom and woven into the airy design . Before noon Abe came back . The men had struck . The surveyor had already sent a telegram to Mr. Worth and in the afternoon they had his answer that he was going to San Felipe . But there was no word of hope in the message .