twenty minutes past ten
He struck a match , and looked at the dial . It was a quarter past ten o'clock . Then , to occupy his mind , he began to try and count the three hundred seconds , fancying that he could see a pendulum swinging before his eyes in the dark . At twenty minutes past ten he would go in . But he did not reach the end of his counting . The curtain suddenly moved a little , allowing a ray of bright light to fall out into the darkness , and in the momentary flash Paul saw the gorgeous uniform and accoutrements of the embassy kaváss . He was alone , and Paul 's heart sank .