midnight
Her father was bursting with new diplomatic secrets recently extracted from his bootblack adviser . Later , in Washington , he was destined to be a marked man because of his grasp of the situation abroad . No one suspected the bootblack , the power behind the throne ; but the gentleman from Texas was destined to think of that able diplomat many times , and to wish that he still had him at his feet to advise him . `` War by midnight , sure ! '' he proclaimed on the morning of this fateful Tuesday . `` I tell you , Marian , we 're lucky to have our tickets on the Saronia . Five thousand dollars would n't buy them from me to-day !