noon
`` May all the saints reward him ! '' ejaculated the elder lady . `` And at what hour , Sir Minstrel , '' asked the knight , `` does the combat come on ? '' `` At the turn of noon , '' replied the minstrel , `` when the shadow first veers to the east . I go to Paris , to find new theme for a ballad , and to see the good Wallace , who is himself the theme of so many . '' The travellers were early on the road . With all their haste and anxiety , however , they saw the sun climbing towards the middle heavens , while the city was yet several miles distant .