About three o'clock
They retrieved some canned stuff from the kitchen tent and ate it with their mouths full of the sand that sifted through the cracks of the doors and windows . Madam satisfied herself with crackers . It was very hot , even in the adobe . About three o'clock Roger wiped the sweat out of his eyes and paused -- pipe poised : `` It 's letting up , Ern , '' he said . Ernest paused to listen . There was a perceptible lull in the uproar , and the lull increased until at five o'clock they emerged from their shelter . The air had miraculously cleared .