noon
exclaimed Fenn , as Frank began paddling . `` Thanks , '' he called back , and his companions waved their hands to him . `` It 's very queer , '' murmured Ned , as he turned back toward the tent . Frank reached the turn of the river , near the cliff , just before noon . Instead of taking the canoe to the foot of the rock , he hid it in the bushes near the bend of the stream , and then began tramping through the woods toward the sanitarium . He ate his lunch in the woods , and then took up his position near the big tree , whence , on his first visit , he had watched the sad-faced men . He had to wait several hours .