four A.M.
Being asked to show the letter , Wilkins declared that he had burned it , and would never have alluded to it but for Blake 's manner , which he declared had goaded him into the remarks . Then he told Stannard that Gleason wrote in so many words that Ray was with Rallston night and day , and intimated that the latter kept him at cards and wine most of the time , and that if some scandal did not result when it came to paying for the horses he would be surprised . Still , he could not quote the language ; but he gave his impressions . Stannard had called Merrill to witness the statement ; then , giving Wilkins injunctions to say nothing more to anybody on the subject , and pledging Merrill to reticence , he had gone home , written brief and hurried letters to Ray and to Gleason , told his wife that he had heard the stories , and that until Ray had a chance to explain would regard them as baseless rumors , or at the worst as exaggerations , for which Gleason was responsible ; then he had slept the sleep of the just until the corporal of the guard came banging at the door at four A.M. to say the reveille had sounded out in camp . Two hours later he had jogged away at the head of his battalion . Mr. Gleason 's complacent acceptance of her reluctant invitation , and his evident expectation of more to come , were matters that therefore annoyed Mrs. Stannard not a little . She knew well that her husband had written him an angry letter , demanding that he either withdraw or substantiate the allegations he had made at the expense of Mr. Ray , but she had not been told what those allegations were .