noon
Gallito sighed again and pessimistically shook his head . He was far from anxious to assume the responsibility of restoring his daughter 's spirits , and had hoped that Flick would relieve him of that duty , but , since that was not to be , he accepted the situation with what philosophy and fortitude he could muster and hurried the feminine preparations for departure so successfully that he and Pearl actually got away on the afternoon train . This fact was communicated to Hanson by Jimmy early that evening . Hanson had returned to the San Gorgonio before noon and had remained in his room until nightfall . As the day wore on and he recovered in some measure his self-control , he began to view the situation in a different light from that in which it had first appeared to him , although , in strict adherence to fact , he could not be said to have viewed it in any light at all in that first hour or two . It was all dense darkness to him , a black despair not unmingled with anger and a sense of injury . But as he sat alone in his room with its windows looking out over the desert , his naturally confident and optimistic spirit gradually asserted itself .