nine in
the morning
Ten words . * * * * * Five minutes later the four confederates thundered south through the night . At daylight they made a change of horses at a far-lying Mexican rancheria , Zurich 's check paying the shot ; they bought two five-gallon kegs and lashed them to the pack , to be filled when needed . At nine in the morning they came to Fishhook Mountain . Fishhook Mountain is midmost in the great desert ; Quijotoa Valley , desolate and dim , lies to the east of it , gullied , dust-deviled , and forlorn . The name gives the mountain 's shape -- two fishhooks bound together back to back , one prong to the east , the other to the west , the barbs pointing to the north . Sweetwater Spring is on the barb of the eastern hook ; three miles west , on the main shank , an all but impassable trail climbed to Hardscrabble Tanks .