two P.M.
Miss Sanford felt that some one ought to entertain their late escort , and the duty fell to her . Garrison people who called that morning were edified by finding Mr. Gleason and Miss Sanford _ tête-à-tête _ in the parlor despite Mrs. Stannard 's efforts . Mrs. Turner was promptly on hand , so were other ladies , and that they made certain inferences at the time , and compared notes later in the day , is , perhaps , supererogation to state . On one pretext or another there was not an hour during that morning in which Mr. Gleason failed to appear at Major Stannard 's quarters , and by two P.M. , at which hour there was a gathering at the adjutant 's office to await the distribution of the mail , it is not to be wondered at that one of Colonel Whaling 's officers remarked to another that the cavalry seemed to have the inside track , if there was to be any race for the Jersey belle , and that others looked knowing when Gleason appeared to inquire if any letters had come for the ladies at Major Stannard 's . There was no necessity whatever for his going , Mrs. Stannard protested . The orderly would bring the mail in five minutes if anything had come ; but Gleason said that the orderly would have to stop in two or three houses before he got there , and he knew Mrs. Truscott was impatient , -- and so she was . In a minute he was back with letters for all three , but Miss Sanford 's was a mere note in reply to an order she had sent East , and while Mrs. Stannard and Mrs. Truscott retired to read the long letters that had come from their respective lords , once more Miss Sanford found herself entertaining the assiduous Gleason .