noon
`` When is it to be ? '' I asked . `` It was to have been next September , but an hour ago a despatch came ordering our regiment to the Presidio , San Francisco . We leave at noon to-morrow . To-morrow , '' he repeated . `` Just think , Hildred , to-morrow I shall be the happiest fellow that ever drew breath in this jolly world , for Constance will go with me . '' I offered him my hand in congratulation , and he seized and shook it like the good-natured fool he was -- or pretended to be .