midnight before
In Farrel 's suggestion that she ride Panchito in this race she decided that here was evidence that her host did not contemplate any action that would tend to render the ranch untenable for her prior to the _ fiesta _ ; indeed , there was nothing in his speech or bearing that indicated the slightest mental perturbation now that he had discovered the compact existing between her and Bill Conway . Perhaps his pride was not so high as she had rated it ; what if her action had been secretly pleasing to him ? Somehow , Kay found this latter thought disturbing and distasteful . It was long past midnight before she could dismiss the enigma from her thoughts and fall asleep . It was later than that , however , before Don Miguel José Federico Noriaga Farrel dismissed her from his thoughts and succumbed to the arms of Morpheus . For quite a while after retiring to his room he sat on the edge of the bed , rubbing his toes with one hand and holding Bill Conway 's promissory note before him with the other . `` That girl and her mother are my secret allies , '' he soliloquized .