eleven o'clock
Now they were gone ; no moving dot told him where their search had taken them , what they had found . In the middle of an order he found himself breaking off and turning again to the north , looking for the return of the party , hoping to see the men waving their hats that all was well , straining his ears for their reassuring shouts . And the desert , vast , illimitable , threatening , mysterious , full of dim promise , full of vague threats , gave no sign . At eleven o'clock he saw one of the men returning . Why one man alone ? What would be the word which he was bringing ? His heart beat thickly .