noon
Start whenever you are ready . Where do the boys meet you ? '' `` Here , Daddy , at half-past twelve . '' It was high noon now , and the ruddy-faced old fellow grew redder as the summer sun beat down on his gray head , but he strode sturdily down the broad avenue that led to the heart of the bustling new town , turned to the right at the first cross street beyond his own big block , and ten minutes ' brisk tramp brought him to the gateway of Burleigh 's stockaded inclosure . Two or three employees lounging about the gate were gazing curiously within . Silently they let him pass them by , but a sound of angry voices rose upon the heated air . Just within the gate stood the orderly trumpeter holding two horses by the reins , one of them Marshall Dean 's , and a sudden idea occurred to Folsom as he glanced at the open windows of the office building .