noon before
We reached the forest before the sun was high . The woods had already been beaten by boys with kiaki -- a kind of wooden clapper , of which the name describes the noise . The _ marcassin _ had been found , and the dogs put in at once . The whole thing could have been over in fifteen minutes , but the piqueurs , with great skill , managed to make a whole morning 's amusement out of it , and it was noon before the joyous _ hallili _ of the huntsman 's horn proclaimed that the wild pig was dead . All the ceremonies of presenting the boar 's head were gone through with before the king , in an open glade in the forest . Although it was December , the day was mild and the sun warmed the brown earth and the crystal-clear air . A great fire was built , and from it a royal dinner was served by a regiment of cooks .