half past twelve
They passed the habiliments of war in a score of peaceful places . `` Grant , '' cried Laura , `` I really think now we 'll win -- that the strike of peace will prove all that you have lived for . '' `` But if we fail , '' he replied , `` it proves nothing -- except perhaps that it was worth trying , and will be worth trying and trying and trying -- until it wins ! '' It was half past twelve . Grant Adams , standing before the Vanderbilt House , talking with Henry Fenn , was saying , `` Well , Henry , one week of this -- one week of peace -- and the triumph of peace will be -- '' A terrific explosion shut his mouth . Across the night he saw a red glare a few hundred feet away . An instant later it was dark again .