eight o'clock
He resolved to prepare an elaborate programme card on the back of an old envelope . Rapidly the line was formed , Hilma and Harran Derrick in the lead , Annixter having obstinately refused to engage in either march , set or dance the whole evening . Soon the confused shuffling of feet settled to a measured cadence ; the orchestra blared and wailed , the snare drum , rolling at exact intervals , the cornet marking the time . It was half-past eight o'clock . Annixter drew a long breath : `` Good , '' he muttered , `` the thing is under way at last . '' Singularly enough , Osterman also refused to dance . The week before he had returned from Los Angeles , bursting with the importance of his mission .