noon
Good morning ! '' He hurried from the room and Enoch sighed , looked out the window , then read a half dozen letters before Abbott announced the next caller , a man who wanted his pension increased and who had managed to reach the Secretary through a letter from the president of a great college . Then followed at five and ten minute intervals a man from Kansas who had ideas on the allotment of Indian lands ; a Senator who wanted light on a bill the Secretary wished introduced ; a man from Alaska who objected to the government 's attitude on Alaskan coal mines ; the chairman of a State Central Committee who wanted three appointments , and a well known engineer who had a grievance against the Patent Office . Followed these , an hour 's conference with the Attorney General regarding the New Pension Bill , and at noon a conference with the head of the Reclamation Service on the matter of a new dam . When this conference was over , Enoch once more attacked the correspondence pile which , during the morning , having been constantly fed by the indefatigable Abbott , was now of overwhelming proportions . It was nearly two o'clock when Jonas , having popped his head in and out of the door a half dozen times , evidently waiting for the Boss to look up , entered the room with a tray . `` Luncheon is served , sir , '' he said .