noon
said Hartman , with an odd smile . `` Well , I will explain . When I got your letter acknowledging the receipt of the last remittance I sent to you for my children , I learned for the first time by that same letter that my boy would graduate at this Commencement , and hoped to take the highest honors of his college . Well , a steamer was to sail at noon that very day . I thought I would like to be present at the Commencement and see my boy take his degree . I packed my trunk in an hour , embarked in the ` Porte d'Or ' in another hour , and here I am . '' `` That was prompt .