nearly noon
`` If it could only have been the lake without the Rackbirds , '' said Mrs. Cliff . `` Let us consider that that is the state of the case , '' remarked Edna . `` We have the lake , and so far we have not had any Rackbirds . '' It was now nearly noon , and the captain looked around for Ralph , but did not see him . He went to search for him , and finding that the boy had not passed Maka , who was on watch , he concluded he must have gone to the lake . There was no reason why the restless youth should not seek to enliven his captivity by change of scene , but Captain Horn felt unwilling to have any one in his charge out of sight for any length of time , so he went to look for Ralph . He found no one on the rocky shelf .