noon
The other laughed . `` What about ? '' `` Well , '' replied Thorogood , `` the perishing Hun , let 's say . '' The Navigator , thoughtfully biting the end of a pencil , came out of the chart-house with a note-book in his hand , in which he had been working out the noon reckoning . `` Pilot , '' said the departing Officer of the Forenoon Watch , `` James is thirsting for news of the enemy . '' `` Optimist ! '' replied the Navigator composedly .