noon
` I must and will hear it , ' she answered with cold determination . '' ` Then it must be told , ' said the young hunter , with an involuntary shudder . ` On the second day after my arrival from Gottingen University , I started out from my father 's cot , to course hares , taking with me my dog and rifle , intending to remain absent all day . For some hours I was quite successful , and succeeded in killing a score of the fleet animals , but after noon they grew scarce , and as the sun was sinking in the west , I paused wearied and exhausted on the borders of the Black Forest , while my dog was panting in the shade . As I stood thus , leaning upon my gun , the sound of a bugle call fell upon my ears , and almost immediately afterwards your father suddenly passed me in the direction from whence it came , looking straight forward with a stony , fascinated stare , so full of mingled despair and earnestness , that I trembled with superstitious fear , and even my dog crawled to my feet , quivering in every limb . Onward he strode , unconscious of a watcher , to a shaded spot on the border , just beyond my position , known as the Witch 's Circle . As he reached it , the bugle was again sounded , when immediately a tall cloaked figure rode out of the forest to meet him , and they saluted each other in silence .