Seventeen minutes to nine
The clock indicated eighteen minutes to nine . The players took up their cards , but could not keep their eyes off the clock . Certainly , however secure they felt , minutes had never seemed so long to them ! `` Seventeen minutes to nine , '' said Thomas Flanagan , as he cut the cards which Ralph handed to him . Then there was a moment of silence . The great saloon was perfectly quiet ; but the murmurs of the crowd outside were heard , with now and then a shrill cry . The pendulum beat the seconds , which each player eagerly counted , as he listened , with mathematical regularity .