eight A.M.
Go to the back of the quarters and see for yourself . His trail starts -- and ends -- _ here _ . '' In all its history Fort Cushing had never known such a day of bewilderment as that which followed . Guard mounting was held as usual at eight A.M. , and Colonel Button , awaiting in his office the coming of the old and the new officers-of-the-day , directed his adjutant to drop his own work at their entrance and give attention to what took place . Half a dozen other officers , with little or no business to transact at that hour , made it their business to be present , drawn thither from sheer sympathy , as some declared , and downright curiosity , as owned by others . The office building was large and roomy ; the colonel 's desk was close to the door ; beyond it were tables spread with maps , magazines , and papers ; a big stove stood in the middle , and a dozen chairs were scattered about , for it was here the officers met one evening each week in the one `` book-schooling '' to which they were then subjected -- a recitation in regulations or `` Tactics . '' Across the hall was a smaller office -- the adjutant 's -- and beyond that the room where sat the sergeant-major and his clerks .