noon
Plume had stared hard at his adjutant a moment , then , whipping up the sun hat that he had dropped on his desk , and merely saying , `` I 'll return -- shortly , '' had sped to his darkened quarters and not for an hour had he reappeared . Then the first thing he asked for was that letter of Mr. Blakely 's , which , this time , he read with lips compressed and twitching a bit at the corners . Then he called for a telegraph blank and sent a wire to intercept Byrne at the agency . `` I shall turn over command to Wren at noon . I 'm too ill for further duty , '' was all he said . Byrne read the rest between the lines . But Graham went straightway to the quarters of Captain Wren , a rough pencil copy of that most unusual paper in his hand .