about noon
The sight might have aroused some hope in Cappy 's heavy heart , he being by nature inconsistent and always seeing a profit where others found naught but a deficit . However , though Cappy was variously gifted he was not a clairvoyant , in consequence of which he spent a very sleepless night following the receipt of that windy cablegram from the American consul . He dined at his club , and when it was time for him to leave and his daughter sent her car for him , he lacked the courage to go home and face his son-in-law . So he spent the night at the club and came down to the office about noon , hoping Matt Peasley would have recovered from the shock by that time . The latter was waiting for him , and came into Cappy 's sanctum immediately to hold a post-mortem . `` Matthew , my dear boy , '' said Cappy miserably , `` this is terrible . '' `` I think we should take the matter up immediately with the State Department , '' Matt replied .