a quarter to nine
I hear that Mr. Barnett went off somewhere in the middle of the night , so as to return in time to see us off . He will be back soon , and an hour or so wo n't matter , will it ? The _ Snowbird _ does n't run on a schedule , Dad . '' I looked at my watch , it was a quarter to nine . `` We 're off by ten , '' I said . `` First thing I know we wo n't get away till afternoon if I listen to you another minute . '' We had gone but a very little way down the road , which is nothing but a deplorable sort of goat-path or gutter running down the side of the hill , when we saw Dr. Grant coming down from Sammy 's house , and the old fisherman was remonstrating with him .