noon
He lay there till nearly noon suffering more and more from the cramped position and thirst , and utterly puzzled as to the next move . `` When ye do n't like whar ye air , git up without any fuss , and go whar ye want to be , '' was what Sylvanne once said to him , and it came to Rolf with something like a comic shock . The soldiers were busy in the woods and around the forges . In half an hour it would be noon and they might come back to eat . Rolf rose without attempting any further concealment , then stopped , made a bundle of the stuff that had sheltered him and , carrying this on his shoulder , strode boldly across the field toward the woods . His scout uniform was inconspicuous ; the scouts on duty at the mill saw only one of themselves taking a bundle of hay round to the stables . He reached the woods absolutely unchallenged .