noon
All up and down the line one demanded what had happened . The division superintendent galloped past , perplexed and anxious . For the moment , one of the ploughs was out of order , a bolt had slipped , a lever refused to work , or a machine had become immobilised in heavy ground , or a horse had lamed himself . Once , even , toward noon , an entire plough was taken out of the line , so out of gear that a messenger had to be sent to the division forge to summon the machinist . Annixter had disappeared . He had ridden farther on to the other divisions of his ranch , to watch the work in progress there . At twelve o'clock , according to his orders , all the division superintendents put themselves in communication with him by means of the telephone wires that connected each of the division houses , reporting the condition of the work , the number of acres covered , the prospects of each plough traversing its daily average of twenty miles .