noon
`` And this time we 'll try and make sure that none of our grub is hooked , like it was when we camped up on old Rattlesnake Mountain , '' Jack had declared , with emphasis , for the memory of certain mysterious things that had happened to them on that occasion often arose to disturb some of the scouts . `` Oh ! it ought to be easy to look out for that part of the job , '' Paul had made answer ; `` because , you see , we 'll have the two boats to store things in , and they can be anchored out in the lake , if we want , each with a guard aboard . '' By noon the whole town knew all about the expected cruise . Boys who did not have the good luck to belong to Stanhope Troop became greatly excited over it ; and by their actions and looks showed how envious they were of their schoolmates . Just about then , if the assistant scout master had called for volunteers , he could have filled two complete additional patrols with candidates ; for the fellows began to realize that the scouts were having three times as much fun as any one else . But Paul was too wise for that .