seventeen minutes to nine
I 'm not a bit nervous . ' It was so curious that he felt an impulse to confide to someone how curious it was . Then he went into the Criterion bar and sat down . The clock showed seventeen minutes to nine . His piece was advertised to start at eight-thirty precisely . The Criterion Bar is never empty , but it has its moments of lassitude , and seventeen minutes to nine is one of them . After an interval a waiter slackly approached him .