about noon
`` Do you want help ? '' they shouted to Grim ; but they got no answer . Hour after hour old Grim trudged about in the chilly water searching for his son . Then , about noon , when he had worked his way far down the river , he caught sight of something which made his heart stand still . In a brown pool , in which a half-submerged willow-tree grew , he saw a large grayish shape which resembled a horse . He stretched out the boat-hook and rolled it over . Dumbly , fearlessly , he stood staring into the pool .