midnight
`` Perfectly right , my dear Merrill , '' he replied . `` Let us go upstairs at once . I have a good deal to say to you , and what I am going to say will have to be done quickly . '' `` We have our sailing orders for the Baltic , and the Special Squadron leaves Spithead at midnight . Come upstairs , Professor , and we can talk . '' Dinner was served a few minutes after they got into the room that Merrill had reserved on the first floor . The waiter was dismissed and the door locked , and then Franklin Marmion told Mark Merrill the most wonderful story he had ever heard .