noon
She could not at first realize that the desert had at last given up the secret that she had so longed to know . It was not real to her , the revelation was so sudden , so startling . She could not think of herself save as the daughter of Jefferson Worth , whom she loved as a father . As soon as the noon day meal was over she had left her room in the hotel , and once out of doors her steps had instinctively turned toward her mother 's grave beside the old trail . Standing before the headstone she looked at the one word . `` Mother , '' she said softly . `` Mother ! ''