a quarter to nine
`` Shall we go on , or wait here for the _ kafila _ to overtake us . '' `` Unless I am greatly mistaken , '' said Dick , looking at his watch , `` we shall find the usual oasis hidden in a depression about two miles ahead . Our excellent sheikh , Abdur Kad ` r , times the morning march to end precisely at ten o'clock . It is now a quarter to nine . Our camels march two and a half miles per hour , and we are three quarters of a mile ahead . Therein , Miss Fenshawe , yea have a first-rate example of deductive reasoning , so I propose that we advance steadily , and look for a cluster of palms . If , happily , their shade is not taken up by other wanderers , you will be out of the sun long before the caravan arrives .