twenty minutes past six
Quickly I produced the brandy , and gave him a stiff peg , which he swallowed at a single gulp . His eyes were no longer sleepy-looking , but there was a quick fire in them which showed me that , although suppressed , there burned within his heart a fierce desire to get at the truth . Evidently he had learned something since I left him , but what it was I could not gather . I looked at the clock , and saw it was twenty minutes past six . He noticed my action , and said : `` If we start in an hour we shall have sufficient time . '' Ambler Jevons was never communicative . But as he sat before me his brows were knit in deep thought , his hands chafed with suppressed agitation , and he took a second brandy-and-soda , an unusual indulgence , which betrayed an absent mind .