noon
`` Then we 'll let them off this afternoon , '' proposed Holmes amiably , as he wrote time two names down on the list . `` Perhaps they 'll turn out better for a bit of considerate treatment . '' Though Lund frowned as he received the list back in his own hand he made no comment . Immediately after the noon meal Mock and Wilhelm exhibited their passes to the guard and walked briskly out of camp . `` Look at that now -- the pair of traitors ! '' muttered Private Riley , as he spat vengefully on the ground . `` Me , I knew better than to ask for it , and me so lately out of the pen .