seven minutes to twelve
` There it is ; now rush ! ' John needed no telling to rush . People had begun to notice him as the man who was doing nothing but running between the bank and the telegraph-office . It was seven minutes to twelve when he got to the bank . ` Is that despatch right ? ' he said , shoving it through the arched aperture . The clerk looked at it with provoking composure , and then compared it with some papers .