a quarter to nine
`` Do n't worry about me , '' answered Ted ; `` I have plenty of that . I 'll be here when the snipe come down , and if any of them get away , charge them to me . '' After they had been gone some time Ted lit a match and looked at his watch . It was a quarter to nine . The Overland Express was due in Green River at nine-twenty . The little red station of Polifax would foe passed by ten minutes after she left Green River . While he was in Green River that afternoon Ted had been very careful to find the exact location of Bubbly Spring .