half past eleven
No , the women must have made a mistake . '' `` Well , I do n't know about that : let us see , '' said the hunter , turning his back to the sun , and throwing out one foot as far as he could while keeping his body perpendicular . `` Now my clock , which , for noon on the 21st of June , or longest day of summer , is the shadow of my head falling on half my foot , and then passing off beyond it about half an inch each day for the rest of the season , makes it , as _ I _ should calculate the distance between my foot and the shadow of my head , now evidently receding , -- makes it , for this last day of August , about a quarter past twelve . '' `` I am but little over half past eleven , '' said Codman , pulling out and inspecting an old watch . `` Phillips , may be , is thinking of that deer that he has been promising himself and us for dinner ; and , before I take his calculation on shadows and distances , I should like to know how many inches he allowed for the hurrying influence of his appetite . '' `` What nonsense , Comical ! But what you mean by it is , I suppose , that I ca n't tell the time ? ''