ten minutes to nine
So the discordant bell sounded forth in the playground , the interval between the strokes being filled by a harsh , rusty squeak that set one 's teeth on edge . The message it bore to the boys was , `` Come in -- quick ! Come in -- quick ! '' For the time was ten minutes to nine , and the day that following the incident which was already known as the Chicken Row . The monitors this week were Brady , Bacon , and Armitage , and they had already gone in to their duties . The old bell always went on ringing for two minutes , and the boys were in the habit of waiting until it was on the point of ceasing , when they obeyed it with a rush . But on this particular morning the day-scholars seemed , for some reason best known to themselves , one and all consumed with zeal for their studies .