Surprise Valley had enchanted him.

In this home of the cliff-dwellers there were peace and quiet and solitude, and another thing, wondrous as the golden morning shaft of sunlight, that he dared not ponder over long enough to understand.
The solitude he had hated when alone he had now come to love.

He was assimilating something from this valley of gleams and shadows.

From this strange girl he was assimilating more.
The day at hand resembled many days gone before.

As Venters had no tools with which to build, or to till the terraces, he remained idle.