two minutes to eleven
He smiled good-humoredly , pulled out the watch again , opened it , and instantly sprang to his feet with a cry that Heaven has not had the mercy to permit me to forget ! His eyes , their blackness strikingly intensified by the pallor of his face , were fixed upon the watch , which he clutched in both hands . For some time he remained in that attitude without uttering another sound ; then , in a voice that I should not have recognized as his , he said : `` Damn you ! it is two minutes to eleven ! '' I was not unprepared for some such outbreak , and without rising replied , calmly enough : `` I beg your pardon ; I must have misread your watch in setting my own by it . '' He shut the case with a sharp snap and put the watch in his pocket . He looked at me and made an attempt to smile , but his lower lip quivered and he seemed unable to close his mouth .