twenty minutes to four
o'clock
* * * * * Zitlan , in the meantime , had entered the suite of Fragoni and he now came out , Inga walking before him . She was silent and proudly erect but there was a pallor in her face that indicated her realization of the danger that she was threatened with . When Dirk saw her she gave him a brave smile , which he answered with a glance of reassurance . He could see the great clock in the Metropole Tower , and he noticed , with a feeling of grave apprehension , that it was twenty minutes to four o'clock . There were only a few minutes more in which to make a desperate and apparently a hopeless effort to save Inga , his friends and himself from a catastrophe which he had been instrumental in contriving . Then Zitlan stood before him , haughty and arrogant , his lowering countenance ugly with hatred . `` So , dog , '' he said , `` you who dared to defy Zitlan now stand before him a captive ! ''