midday
The affairs of the world , drums and the torch of war , had passed for those hours from his knowledge , as at the centre of a cyclone there was a windless calm . To-morrow he knew he would pass out into the tumult again , and the minutes slipped like pearls from a string , dropping into the dim gulf where the tempest raged ... . He went back to town next morning , after a short interview with his father , who was coming up later in the day , when he told him that he intended to go back to his regiment as soon as possible . But , knowing that he meant to go by the slow midday train , his father proposed to stop the express for him that went through a few minutes before . Michael could hardly believe his ears ... It was but a day or two after the outbreak of the war that it was believed that an expeditionary force was to be sent to France , to help in arresting the Teutonic tide that was now breaking over Belgium ; but no public and authoritative news came till after the first draft of the force had actually set foot on French soil . From the regiment of the Guards which Michael had rejoined , Francis was among the first batch of officers to go , and that evening Michael took down the news to Sylvia .