noon
`` So far so good , '' said Ben , `` but on the other side of Table Top there 'll be some climb . '' Nancy did not hear this prediction . So far , indeed , the trail was a broad and honest path leading through the pine forest ; but after a while , as it descended toward the tableland , it grew so narrow as to be imperceptible to everybody but Ben , whose eyes , trained by long months of camping and vacation walking trips , could pick out the faintest indication of a path where the others saw nothing at all . It was well past noon when at last they arrived at a scooped out area of land between the two mountains , connecting them half way to their summit , like the web foot of a duck . Here , hungry and tired , they paused for lunch , and somehow , two sandwiches and a boiled egg apiece did n't seem to go very far . `` I have to apologize , '' said Billie . `` There was nothing in the camp to eat .