twenty-five past ten
`` I 've not eaten a single one , '' said I. `` It would have been better for your digestion if you had only eaten a single one , instead of swallowing half the lot . I know the ways of you boys . Well , what 's the time ? '' `` It was twenty-five past ten . '' `` I did n't ask you what it was -- I want to know what it is . '' It then occurred to me for the first time that Mr Evans was a humourist . It seemed to me a feeble joke , but he evidently thought it a good one , as did also the other clerks to whom he communicated it .