a quarter to four
And when it had been , as they say , borne in upon him that he was for the high jump , another ten minutes were wasted while he made one final , frantic , solitary endeavour to attract the servants ' attention . His feminine personality discarded , he raved about the house , barking , screeching and braying to beat the band ; he thundered upon the door with his fists ; he flung much of the drive in the direction of the second floor . Finally , when we were weak with laughter , he sat down upon the steps , expressed his great satisfaction at the reception of his efforts to amuse , and assured us that his death-agony , which we should shortly witness , would be still more diverting . By now it was a quarter to four , and , so soon as Jonah and I could control our emotion , we took our deliverer by the arms and showed him ` the best way up . ' He listened attentively . At length -- `` Thanks very much , '' he said weakly . `` Let 's just go over it again , shall I ?