A quarter to ten
`` Rather not . I -- '' `` What 's the time ? '' said Dick . `` A quarter to ten . '' Without more ado they took the unhappy Coote between them and rushed him frantically back to the school , where they shot him in at the Doctor 's door just as that gentleman was about to dismiss his new boys ' class . `` How is this , Coote ? '' demanded the Head Master , sternly , as the breathless boy entered .