nearly noon
inquired Greg . `` Guess , '' advised Dick dryly . As the two policemen had given up looking for the fugitive , and had gone back to their posts , the crowd was melting . It was nearly noon , and most people on the streets were moving homeward . `` Guess you wo n't have a large appetite for the coming meal , '' observed Tom Reade to Dick . `` Whew ! What a crack that sounded like when the scoundrel struck you !