noon
He knew exactly where to look for these trails ; not once did his instinct deceive him . He recognized familiar points at once . Here was Cold cañón , where invariably , winter and summer , a chilly wind was blowing ; here was where the road to Spencer 's branched off ; here was Bussy 's old place , where at one time there were so many dogs ; here was Delmue 's cabin , where unlicensed whiskey used to be sold ; here was the plank bridge with its one rotten board ; and here the flat overgrown with manzanita , where he once had shot three quail . At noon , after he had been tramping for some two hours , he halted at a point where the road dipped suddenly . A little to the right of him , and flanking the road , an enormous yellow gravel-pit like an emptied lake gaped to heaven . Farther on , in the distance , a cañón zigzagged toward the horizon , rugged with pine-clad mountain crests . Nearer at hand , and directly in the line of the road , was an irregular cluster of unpainted cabins .