five minutes to three
Vacation was such a glorious time for fun and she knew the girls ' capacity for getting the most joy out of everything in life . She thought : `` The darlings ! And I have to be the one to order them back to their books ! '' At five minutes to three , Bet bent her head over her book , declaring that she would not look at the clock again until it was three . Then , when she was certain that the minute hand must be pointing to twelve , she looked up and gave a gasp . Only one minute had gone by ! How the time dragged !