a quarter to twelve
At the end of that period he once more manifested his awareness of the human factor in existence . Challis , if he spoke little to Lewes of the Wonder during this time , maintained a strict observation of the child 's doings . The Wonder began his last volume of the Encyclopædia one Wednesday afternoon soon after lunch , and on Thursday morning , Challis was continually in and out of the room watching the child 's progress , and noting his nearness to the end of the colossal task he had undertaken . At a quarter to twelve he took up his old position in the doorway , and with his hands clasped behind his back he watched the reading of the last forty pages . There was no slackening and no quickening in the Wonder 's rate of progress . He read the articles under `` Z '' with the same attention he had given to the remainder of the work , and then , arrived at the last page , he closed the volume and took up the Index . Challis suffered a qualm ; not so much on account of the possible postponement of the crisis he was awaiting , as because he saw that the reading of the Index could only be taken as a sign that the whole study had been unintelligent .