noon
He was , however , indulgent enough to promise to give the matter his distinguished consideration in due course . He even went so far as to have his secretary make a note of what alleged information this young Englishman had to impart . During the night he chanced to wake up and recall the matter , and concluded that , all things considered , it would do no harm to give the United States Navy a little amusement and exercise , even if it should turn out that the rumour of this submarine base was a canard . So , the next morning , he went to his desk some time before noon , and issued a lot of orders . One of them had to do with the necessity for absolute secrecy . During the day several minor officials of the department might have been , and indeed were , observed going about their business with painfully tight-lipped expressions . Also many messages were transmitted by wireless , telephone , and telegraph , to various persons charged with the defense of the Atlantic Coast ; some of these were code messages , some were not .