noon
A window had been open in Bibbs 's room the evening before ; he had left his note-book on the sill -- and the sheets were loose . The door was open , and when Bibbs came in and closed it , he did not notice that the two sheets had blown out into the hall . Sheridan recognized the handwriting and put the sheets in his coat pocket , intending to give them to George or Jackson for return to the owner , but he forgot and carried them down-town with him . At noon he found himself alone in his office , and , having a little leisure , remembered the bits of manuscript , took them out , and glanced at them . A glance was enough to reveal that they were not epistolary . Sheridan would not have read a `` private letter '' that came into his possession in that way , though in a `` matter of business '' he might have felt it his duty to take advantage of an opportunity afforded in any manner whatsoever . Having satisfied himself that Bibbs 's scribblings were only a sample of the kind of writing his son preferred to the machine-shop , he decided , innocently enough , that he would be justified in reading them .