what does play tap mean? In Washington men of power tend to do everything at least an hour after everyone else. They come to work later, eat later, quit later. Lesser men live by different timetables. Occasionally they even take a day off during the week. Joe Gawler, Washington's most prestigious undertaker, was cutting the grass in his back yard. Sergeant Keith Clark, the bugler who played taps in Arlington National Cemetery on important occasions— the last time had been Armistice Day, before President Kennedy—was home going through his collection of rare books. Jack Metzler, Arlington's superintendent, was about to leave for a long weekend. He was checking Monday's funeral list. It looked like a normal day: twenty-three burials.