midnight
`` I will begin by saying that my suspicions in this case were aroused long months ago , '' said Elmendorf , when the judge-advocate of the department suavely spoke : `` Kindly spare us your suspicions , Mr. Elmendorf . You promised facts , and , as time is short , owing to your own delay , we desire facts alone . '' `` The facts , '' said Elmendorf , nettled , `` are that the gentleman in question , while posing as a man of honor and a welcome guest in a most estimable family circle , has long been secretly laying siege to the affections of a young and comparatively friendless girl , with such success that their relations became the talk of the neighborhood . I found that she had been seen at his lodgings after dark , that they were frequently seen alone together as late as midnight , and that they were often alone in the private rooms at the Lambert . These facts were so well known that when he was suddenly ordered to leave Chicago last winter the explanation arrived at by common consent was that the general sent him off to his regiment to avert further scandal , and that his second orders were for practically the same reason . It is notorious that because of this affair the girl has been threatened with discharge from the position she holds , and so I am here to say that since this poor clerk and this poor girl are made the sufferers and the only ones , I , as the ever ready representative of the people , demand the prompt punishment of the real offender , whom doubtless his class would shield . Nothing but my dislike of involving a poor working-girl in further scandal and trouble has held me silent until now . ''