noon
`` But instead of this honey-drink , which is more fit for bees than for men , get me a draught of fresh water : water is your only safe drink before fighting . '' `` Thou hast never drank ale , then ! '' said the Saxon ; `` but thy foreign tastes shall be heeded , strange man . '' A little after noon , the horns were sounded , and the troop prepared to depart . But the Norman observed that they had left behind all their horses : and his squire , approaching , informed him that Sexwolf had positively forbidden the knight 's steed to be brought forth . `` Was it ever heard before , '' cried Sire Mallet de Graville , `` that a Norman knight was expected to walk , and to walk against a foe too ! Call hither the villein , -- that is , the captain . ''