a quarter to ten
And what was it -- a boundary hill , a natural formation , or , as its name implied , a funeral barrow ? He had half a mind to dig one day and find out , that is if he could get anybody to dig with him , for the people about Honham were so firmly convinced that Dead Man 's Mount was haunted , a reputation which it had owned from time immemorial , that nothing would have persuaded them to touch it . He contemplated the great mound carefully without coming to any conclusion , and then looked at his watch . It was a quarter to ten , time for him to start for the Castle for his day 's shooting . So he got his gun and cartridges , and in due course arrived at the Castle , to find George and several myrmidons , in the shape of beaters and boys , already standing in the yard . `` Please , Colonel , the Squire hopes you 'll go in and have a glass of summut before you start , '' said George ; so accordingly he went , not to `` have a glass of summut , '' but on the chance of seeing Ida . In the vestibule he found the old gentleman busily engaged in writing an enormous letter .