a few minutes before eleven o'clock
Tell me that . '' `` It 's the miraculous element in religion , '' said the priest shortly . `` Come , we must go to our coffee . '' -LRB- III -RRB- The hall was already crowded in every part as the two priests looked in at the lower end a few minutes before eleven o'clock . It was arranged more or less like a theatre , with a broad gangway running straight up from the doors at one end to the foot of the stage at the other . The stage itself , with a statue of Mary towering at the back , communicated with the examination-rooms behind the two doors , one on either side of the image . `` What 's going on ? ''