noon precisely
Well , our Vicar laid his copy of the 1894 almanack on the reading-room table at 11.30 a.m. , or thereabouts , looked over the local papers for a few minutes , and left the building at ten minutes to noon . I get this information from Matthias James , our respected pilot , who happened to be in the room , reading the _ Shipping Gazette _ . It is confirmed by Mr. Hansombody and four or five other members . At noon precisely , Mr. Rabling -LRB- our gasman and an earnest Methodist -RRB- came in . His eye , as it wandered round in search of an unoccupied newspaper , was arrested by the scarlet and green binding of Whitaker . He picked the book up , opened it casually , and read : The proof gallons of spirits distilled during the year ending March 31st , 1893 , were 10,691,576 in England , 20,107,077 in Scotland , and 13,615,668 in Ireland ... . He tells me he was on the point of closing the book as a voluptuous work of fiction , when a second and even more dazzling paragraph took his eye .