noon
he cried . `` I do n't know ! To the devil ! '' `` The bloodhounds will be upon your trail before noon . '' The wretch cried out and struck his hand against the wall with a force that laid the knuckles bare and bleeding . `` There is a way , '' said Luiz Sebastian slowly , `` a way that only I know . You must take to the inlet here , and swim up it until you come to the mouth of the brook yonder in the forest .