five
minutes to three
Nikitin put his arm round him , took him back to his room , where he made him a bed on the floor , gave him a sleeping-draught and watched him until he slept . That was the true beginning of the friendship between Nikitin and Trenchard . The retreat struck us as breathlessly as though we had been whirled by a wind-storm into midair on the afternoon of a summer day . At five minutes to three we had been sitting round the table in the garden of the house at M -- drinking tea . We were , I remember , very gay . We had heard only the day before of the Russian surrender of Przemysl and that had for a moment depressed us ; but as always we could see very little beyond our own immediate Division . Here , on our own Front , we had at last cleared the path before us .