twenty-five minutes to four
The professor went with him into the street . `` Sir , '' said the captain , addressing Barré , `` you have been of the most important service to me , and I heartily acknowledge the obligation . Had it not been that you were good enough to exert your influence with the magistrate , that rascal would have sworn through thick and thin that I had been his captain . '' Then , looking at his watch , he said , `` It is twenty-five minutes to four . I shall take a cab and go directly to the legation . I was on my way to my hotel , but there is no time for that now , '' and , after shaking hands with the professor , he hailed a cab . Captain Horn reached the legation but a little while after the party from the Hotel Grenade had arrived , and in due time he stood up beside Edna in one of the parlors of the mansion , and he and she were united in marriage by the American minister .