noon
He caught a glimpse of the burly general walking back and forth in the forest , his hands clasped behind him , and a frown on his broad , fighting face . He would walk occasionally to a little telephone station , improvised under the trees -- John could see the wires stretching away through the forest -- and listen long and attentively . But when he put down the receiver the same moody look was invariably on his face , and John was convinced as much by his expression as by the sound of the guns that affairs were not going well with the Germans . Another long hour passed and the sun moved on toward noon , but a German army of perhaps a quarter of a million men lay idle in the forest of Sénouart , as John now called the whole region . Presently the general walked down the line and John lost sight of him . But Weber reappeared , coming from the other side of the hillock , and John was glad to see him , since Fleury had gone back to attend to a wounded friend . `` There does n't seem to be as much action here as I expected , '' said Weber , cheerfully , sitting down on the grass beside young Scott .