an hour before noon
Still , from what I 've seen up to this time of your character , I can give a pretty shrewd guess what your answer will be . '' Of course this sort of talk aroused a good deal of curiosity in both Tom Chesner and Rob Shaefer , and they impatiently awaited the coming of the scout master . `` And now I 'll explain , '' Mr. Henderson told them , when he found three eager pairs of eyes fastened on him . `` I chanced to be about half a mile away from home an hour before noon to-day when I heard angry voices , and discovered that several persons were about to pass by , following a trail that leads straight into the worst bog around the foot of Big Bear Mountain . '' `` I warrant you that it must have been the four young rascals who robbed our camp , that you saw , '' ventured Mr. Witherspoon . `` I know now that it was as you say , '' continued the other . `` At the time I might have called out and warned them of the peril that lay in wait for them if they should continue along that misleading trail , but when I looked at their faces , and heard a little of the vile language they used , I determined that it would be a very unwise thing for me to let them know I lived so near . ''