a quarter past seven
The touch of the cold steel brought home to him that he , too , was to be a participant in the frustration of the train wrecking . Out of the downtown traffic the three machines increased their speed . John glanced at his watch . It was a quarter past seven . At eight o'clock the `` Lark '' would pull out of the Arcade station loaded with men , women and children , little suspecting the danger from which they were to be saved . What if something should go wrong ? Suppose `` Red Mike '' was already at the scene , making it impossible for Gibson 's detectives to surround him without being seen ?