a
quarter to nine
Oh , well , Frank thought it was a good thing to go on a walking tour , even if you were rather uncomfortable sometimes . The leave-taking was unemotional . Jack had announced suddenly and loudly in the smoking-room before dinner that he was going to see the last of Frank , as far as the churchyard ; Frank had protested , but had yielded . The rest had all said good-by to him in the hall , and at a quarter to nine the two young men went out into the darkness . -LRB- VI -RRB- It was a clear autumn night -- a `` wonderful night of stars '' -- and the skies blazed softly overhead down to the great blotted masses of the high moors that stood round Barham . It was perfectly still , too -- the wind had dropped , and the only sound as the two walked down the park was the low talking of the stream over the stones beyond the belt of trees fifty yards away from the road . Jack was sick at heart ; but even so , he tells me , he was conscious that Frank 's silence was of a peculiar sort .