noon
Just which course deer would graze he could predict by the quarter of the wind . In woodcraft he was a trustworthy though unquoted authority . His young patron often showed him his watch and explained how it measured time , but he had no use for it . He could tell nearly enough when it was noon , and if the stars were shining he knew midnight within a few minutes . This he had learned when a shepherd . He could track a wounded deer for miles , when another could not see a trace of where the animal had passed . He could recognize the footprint of his favorite saddle pony among a thousand others .