twelve o'clock
I have coasted this lake in search of skins afore the war , and have been here already ; not at this very spot , for we landed yonder , where you may see the blasted oak that stands above the cluster of hemlocks -- '' `` How , Pathfinder , can you remember all these trifles so accurately ? '' `` These are our streets and houses , our churches and palaces . Remember them , indeed ! I once made an appointment with the Big Sarpent , to meet at twelve o'clock at noon , near the foot of a certain pine , at the end of six months , when neither of us was within three hundred miles of the spot . The tree stood , and stands still , unless the judgment of Providence has lighted on that too , in the midst of the forest , fifty miles from any settlement , but in a most extraordinary neighborhood for beaver . '' `` And did you meet at that very spot and hour ? '' `` Does the sun rise and set ?