a quarter to six
`` I ca n't help _ his _ troubles , '' said Dunstable mildly , `` having enough of my own . Coming ? '' * * * * * It was about ten minutes later that Sheen , approaching the waterside in quest of his boat , found no boat there . The time was a quarter to six , and lock-up was at six-thirty . It did not occur to Sheen immediately that his boat had actually gone . The full beauty of the situation was some moments in coming home to him . At first he merely thought that somebody had moved it to another part of the bank , as the authorities at the inn had done once or twice in the past , to make room for the boats of fresh visitors .