midnight
It was necessary to join the two sources in a unified system of laterals that would efficiently serve the tract ; and therefore the whole enterprise required study , innumerable measurements , calculations of dirt moving , of water distribution , of dam , weir , and gate construction , of soil analysis -- a coördination of the thousand and one matters concerned in an irrigation project that are preliminary to breaking ground . So early and late he toiled , and with him Dave Morris . The boy indeed did enough for a man . And Bryant would sometimes arise from his drawing board where he worked after supper until midnight , to go and affectionately gaze at Dave sleeping the sleep of exhaustion . One afternoon , when the pair were at work near the southern boundary of the ranch , Ruth Gardner came through the sagebrush to the spot , a mile from Sarita Creek . `` I could see you , just black specks , from our cabins ; and since you do n't visit us , I made up my mind to visit you , '' she announced . `` I 've noticed you down here for two days past .