about noon
It might be foolish , but it was on that account none the less delightful . They sent out scouts to watch for the approach of an imaginary enemy ; they had secret pass-words and signs ; they swore -LRB- Viking style -RRB- by Thor 's hammer and by Odin 's eye . They talked appalling nonsense to each other with a delicious sentiment of its awful blood-curdling character . It was about noon when they reached the Strandholm saeter , which consisted of three turf-thatched log-cabins or chalets , surrounded by a green inclosure of half a dozen acres . The wide highland plain , eight or ten miles long , was bounded on the north and west by throngs of snow-hooded mountain peaks , which rose , one behind another , in glittering grandeur ; and in the middle of the plain there were two lakes or tarns , connected by a river which was milky white where it entered the lakes and clear as crystal where it escaped . `` Now , Vikings , '' cried Wolf-in-the-Temple , when the boys had done justice to their dinner , `` it behooves us to do valiant deeds , and to prove ourselves worthy of our fathers . '' `` Hear , hear , '' shouted Ironbeard , who was fourteen years old and had a shadow of a moustache , `` I am in for great deeds , hip , hip , hurrah ! ''