seventeen after six
`` Here , Shorty , you try your luck with him . '' `` Sure , '' says I. `` I 've talked sense through thicker things than a wooden pail . '' First I raps on his cupola with me knuckles , just to ring him up . Then , when I gets his eye , I says , kind of coaxin ' : `` Pete , it 's seventeen after six . That 's twenty-three for you . Are you next ? '' Now say , you 'd thought most anyone would have dropped for a hint like that , dippy or not .