noon
Consequently when he one day had sold his coals , he did not light a new stack , but put on his father 's holiday jacket , his new red stockings , and best hat , took his blackthorn stick , five feet long into his hand , and bade farewell to his mother , saying , `` I must go to the magistrate in the town , for we shall soon have to draw lots who is to be soldier , and therefore I wish to impress once more upon him that you are a widow , and I am your only son . '' His mother praised his resolution ; but he started for the Tannenbühl . This lies on the highest point of the Schwarzwald , and not a village or even a hut was found , at that time , for two leagues around , for the superstitious people believed it was haunted ; they were even very unwilling to fell timber in that part , though the pines were tall and excellent , for often the axes of the wood-cutters had flown off the handle into their feet , or the trees falling suddenly , had knocked the men down , and either injured or even killed them ; moreover , they could have used the finest trees from there only for fuel , since the raftsmen never would take a trunk from the Tannenbühl as part of a raft , there being a tradition that both men and timber would come to harm , if they had a tree from that spot on the water . Hence the trees there grew so dense and high that is was almost night at noon . When Peter Munk approached the place , he felt quite awe-stricken , hearing neither voice nor footstep except his own ; no axe resounded , and even the birds seemed to shun the darkness amidst the pines . Peter Munk had now reached the highest point of the Tannenbühl , and stood before a pine of enormous girth , for which a Dutch ship-builder would have given many hundred florins on the spot . `` Here , '' said he , `` the treasure-keeper -LRB- Schatzhauser -RRB- no doubt lives , '' and pulling off his large hat , he made a low bow before the tree , cleared his throat , and said , with a trembling voice , `` I wish you a good evening , Mr. Glass-mannikin . ''