twenty minutes to four
By three o'clock he had drunk enough liquor to have dispatched the average man for several days . It had produced no effect upon him beyond possibly a slight aggravation of his moodiness . It took only twenty minutes to get from New York to her house . He set out at a few minutes after three ; arrived at twenty minutes to four . As experience of her ways had taught him that she was much less friendly when he disobeyed her requests , he did not dare go to the house , but , after looking at it from a corner two blocks away , made a detour that would use up some of the time he had to waste . And as he wandered he indulged in his usual alternations between self-derision and passion . He appeared at the house at five minutes to four .