noon
The oncoming knights and men were tiny in the distance , marching along a road that would meet Simon 's route . _ Oh , God , now it will be harder to turn them back . _ `` That will be the party from Château la Durie , '' Thierry said , pointing to the horizon where the four towers of a small castle were just barely visible . A distant bell was ringing out the noon hour as Simon 's troop met those from la Durie . All of the new knights wore red crosses on their tunics . Sire Antoine de la Durie was a stout man about de Puys 's age with a huge mustache called an algernon , whose ends grew into his sideburns . Simon and de la Durie brought their horses together and embraced .