Five minutes to ten
`` Come , my boy , '' said father , after a while , `` it 's ten minutes to ten . Never keep the ladies waiting . '' `` Yes , sir ; as soon as I 've put these raisins away . '' `` Five minutes to ten , John . Do n't forget the lemons . '' `` No , sir . '' But I _ did _ forget them in my trepidation , and a man had to be sent back for them afterward .