about a quarter to ten
Good evening . '' The gunsmith stared at me , and as I left the shop I heard him remark to his assistant : `` That African gent must think he 's going out to shoot ostriches with buck shot . I expect he ai n't no good , whatever they may say about him . '' On the following morning Scroope and I arrived at Castle Ragnall at or about a quarter to ten . On our way we stopped to pick up my three hundred and fifty cartridges . I had to pay something over three solid sovereigns for them , as in those days such things were dear , which showed me that I was not going to get my lesson in English pheasant shooting for nothing . The gunsmith , however , to whom Scroope gave a lift in his cart to the castle , impressed upon me that they were dirt cheap , since he and his assistant had sat up most of the night loading them with my special No. 3 shot .