half past five
The doors of the rooms on this floor were all open , and I saw that the two rear chambers were furnished as bedrooms . I went into one of these rooms , and seated myself in a chair . Mrs. Boomsby was on the floor below , standing at the head of the stairs , calling for her husband . It has taken me a long time to record the incidents of my escape so far , and my reflections upon them ; but when I looked at my watch I found that only eight minutes had elapsed since I consulted it before , at half past five . Probably it was not five minutes from the time I first saw the snake till I was seated in the chair in the room below . The lady of the house had not , therefore , stood a great while in her present position . Her husband had had time enough to come up-stairs since he was first called , but he probably had a customer in the saloon .