one o'clock
`` I 'll take yours when I get this entered , '' said the clerk quietly , as became a public officer . `` I got here first , '' said Long Ben . But the clerk looked at the clock and entered the date on the back of Jack 's paper , putting `` one o'clock and eighteen minutes '' after the date . Then he wrote `` one o'clock and nineteen minutes '' on the paper which Long Ben handed him . The office was soon crowded with people discussing the result of the race , and a part of them were even now in favor of seizing one or the other of the runners for a theft , which some said had been committed on the packet , and others declared was committed on the wharf-boat . Francis Gray came in , and could not conceal his chagrin . `` I meant to do the fair thing by you , '' he said to Jack , severely , `` but now you 'll never get a cent out of me . ''