11:13
What let me in wrong this last time was a snappy little remark I got shot my way right here in the general offices . I was just back from a three-days ' chase after a delayed shipment of bridge girders and steel wheelbarrows that was billed for France in a rush , and I 'd got myself disliked by most of the traffic managers between here and Altoona , to say nothing of freight conductors , yard bosses and so on . But I 'd untangled those nine cars and got 'em movin ' toward the North River , and now I was steamin ' through a lot of office detail that had piled up while I was gone . I 'd lunched luxurious on an egg sandwich and a war doughnut that Vincent had brought up to me from the arcade automat , and I 'd ` phoned Vee that I might not be out home until the 11:13 , when in blows this potty party with the poison ivy leaves on his shoulder straps and demands to see Mr. Ellins at once . Course , it 's me with my heels together doin ' the zippy salute . `` Sorry , major , '' says I , `` but Mr. Ellins wo n't be in until 10:30 . '' `` Hah ! ''