noon
`` That is quite easy . There are , you know , three hundred and sixty degrees of longitude : the sun passes through them all -- that is , round the globe in twenty-four hours . Then , of course , in one hour , it passes through fifteen degrees , and through one degree in four minutes ; so that for every four minutes ' difference of time , there will be a difference of longitude of one degree -- that is , near the equator , about seventy miles . '' `` It must be very near noon now , '' said Johnny , running out into a patch of sunshine , where a small opening in the grove let in the light , `` see ! I have hardly any shadow at all . '' Arthur planted a stick in the ground , and as soon as the shadow marked the hour of noon , looked at his watch , by which it was eighteen minutes after twelve . `` It would seem from this , '' said he , `` that we are four degrees and a half , or over three hundred miles , west of the Kingsmills : it also appears that we are very near the line , but a little south of it , for the shadow inclines a little southward . ''