noon
`` The wall cherry , '' said he , `` will soon have a few ripe . '' Oliver swore a deep but soundless oath in his chest . Sir Constans continued talking about his fruit and flowers , entirely oblivious of the silent anger of the pair beside him . As they approached the house , the warder blew his horn thrice for noon . It was also the signal for dinner . When the canoe was finished , Oliver came to help Felix launch it , and they rolled it on logs down to the place where the stream formed a pool . But when it was afloat , as Oliver had foretold , it did not swim upright in the water .