five minutes to five
and , sobbing hysterically , she fled from the room , unable to endure the sight of Lansing 's face . He had fallen into a chair , and was motionless , save for the slow and labored breathing which shook his body . As he sat there in Pinney 's ranch this pleasant afternoon , the wife whom he worshiped never so passionately as now , at their home one thousand miles away , was holding another man by the hand , and promising to be his wife . It was five minutes to five by the clock on the wall before him . It therefore wanted but five minutes of six , the hour of the wedding , at home , the difference in time being just an hour . In the years of his exile , by way of enhancing the vividness of his dreams of home , he had calculated exactly the difference in time from various points in Colorado , so that he could say to himself , `` Now Mary is putting the babies to bed ; '' `` Now it is her own bedtime ; '' `` Now she is waking up ; '' or `` Now the church-bells are ringing , and she is walking to church . '' He was accustomed to carry these two standards of time always in his head , reading one by the other , and it was this habit , bred of doting fondness , which now would compel him to follow , as if he were a spectator , minute by minute , each step of the scene being enacted so far away .