a
quarter past nine
Every moment one of them went to the door to see if Fields had appeared . The rest walked about , with their hands behind them , talking together incoherently . The air was full of doubts . The teller usually came at a quarter past nine , but the hour arrived without the man . Intolerable suspense ! Two or three of the directors made paths for themselves amid the chairs , and anxiously traversed them . Slavin took a post beside a window and gazed into the street .