ten minutes to seven
`` Yes , '' answered Etta . And she shivered . For a moment there was a little silence and Etta looked at the clock . It was ten minutes to seven . A high wind was blowing , the first of the equinoctial gales heralding the spring . The sound of the wind in the great chimney was like the moaning of high rigging at sea . The door opened and Steinmetz came in .