midnight
Tom , meanwhile , had apparently relapsed into his former condition of disinterest , and was once more spending his days on the mountain , seemingly bent on effacing himself socially , as he had been effaced business-wise by the Farley overturn . A week or more after the relapse , as he was crossing the road leading over the mountain 's shoulder , he came on the morning riders walking their horses toward Paradise , and saw trouble in Miss Dabney 's eyes , and on Farley 's impassive face a mask of sullen anger . When they were out of sight and hearing , Tom sat on a flat stone by the roadside with his gun between his knees , thoughtfully speculative . Were the high gods invoked in the midnight conference at the Marlboro beginning to point the finger of fate at these two ? He was malevolent enough to hope so , and in the comfort of the hope , walked many miles that day through the forests of crimson and gold showering with falling leaves . Whatever their influence in the field of sentiment , undeniably in that of fact the high gods were imposing Sisyphean labors on Mr. Duxbury Farley . With the negotiations for the sale to the trust so abruptly terminated , the promoter-president set instant and anxious inquiry afoot to determine the cause .