ten minutes
past ten
The question was general : there were half a dozen answers . Every one was going in by the last express . All of them had dined well : they had been hungry and the club was a wealthy one ; even the most exclusive of appetites could be entertained at the Faraway Country Club . The last ` bus was to leave the clubhouse at ten minutes past ten , and it was then half-past eight . Ten minutes ' drive from the clubhouse on the edge of the little town to the railway station -- then thirty minutes to the heart of the big city in which the members lived and died at great risk to themselves . Each succeeding spring saw the formal opening of the Faraway Country Club . The boards were pulled down from the windows and the door hinges were oiled properly after a winter of discontent .