noon
Nor did Enoch for several hours after meditate on his troubles . Not an hour after the mirage had disappeared the sky darkened almost to black , then turned a sullen red . Lightning forked across the zenith and the thunder reverberated among the thousand mesas , the entangled gorges , until it seemed almost impossible to endure the uproar . Rain did not begin to fall until noon . There was not a place in sight that would provide shelter , so the men wrapped their Navajos about them and forced the reluctant animals to continue the journey . The storm held with fury until late in the afternoon . The wind , the lightning and the rain vied with one another in punishing the travelers .