about 9 o'clock
So before going to bed he gave the operator a half rate message , for morning delivery , as follows : To Manning , Morgan & Co. , Chicago , Ill. : Is my wife or daughter sick ? Answer , care Gilsey . He felt easier having done this , and passed a better night than the previous one , although there was in all his sleeping and waking thoughts an under current of solicitude over impending danger to Mary . With an attempt not to be anxious , yet terribly apprehensive at heart , he tore open the telegram that reached him about 9 o'clock : To C. Morgan , care Gilsey & Co. , Decatur : Come home first train . Good God , what was this ! Were his forebodings indeed true ? If so he was all the more totally unprepared for the truth .