noon
`` Now and forever ! '' concluded Carteret solemnly . When the visitors , half an hour later , had taken their departure , Carteret , inspired by the theme , and in less degree by the famous mixture of the immortal Calhoun , turned to his desk and finished , at a white heat , his famous editorial in which he sounded the tocsin of a new crusade . At noon , when the editor , having laid down his pen , was leaving the office , he passed Jerry in the hall without a word or a nod . The major wore a rapt look , which Jerry observed with a vague uneasiness . `` He looks jes ' lack he wuz walkin ' in his sleep , '' muttered Jerry uneasily . `` Dere 's somethin' up , sho 's you bawn !