ten minutes to twelve
It was too serious a matter for that . The men and women of Britain were thinking , not about what they should say , but about what they should do . There was no time for shouting , for to-morrow , perhaps even to-night , the guns would be talking -- `` The drumming guns which have no doubts . '' The House rose at half-past eleven , and at ten minutes to twelve Lieutenant Denis Castellan , came into the smoking-room of the Keppel 's Head Hotel , Portsmouth , with a copy of the last edition of the _ Southern Evening News _ in his hand , and said to Captain Erskine : `` It 's all right , my boy . It 's war , and you 've got the _ Ithuriel _ . Your own ship , too . Designer , creator , captain ; and I 'm your First Luff . ''