a quarter past ten o'clock
He rarely carried weapons , as Alexander did , but he trusted in his own strength to save him . He drew his watch from his pocket , resolving to wait five minutes longer , and then , if the kaváss did not return , to lift the curtain , come what might . He struck a match , and looked at the dial . It was a quarter past ten o'clock . Then , to occupy his mind , he began to try and count the three hundred seconds , fancying that he could see a pendulum swinging before his eyes in the dark . At twenty minutes past ten he would go in . But he did not reach the end of his counting .