noon
It is my secret . '' Phil reached for her friend 's hand , giving it a warm , firm pressure , then they walked on in silence . All morning they had been tramping through woodlands . At noon they came to the edge of one wood . A clearing stretched ahead of them . On the edge of this clearing they sat down to their luncheon . While the two chums were eating they heard the strangest and most peculiar noise either of them had ever listened to in their lives .