noon before
`` Forward ! You must find some other carrier for your message , Stefan . '' `` And soon , or I 'll have murder on my soul , '' was the answer , as the troop rode singly out of the hollow and picked its way along a forest track . It was high noon before they chanced upon a woodcutter and his boy . `` Give me leave , Captain , '' said Stefan , bringing his horse to a standstill . `` Here 's one may take my message . Aye there , how far is it to Sturatzberg by the shortest road ? ''