three o'clock
in the morning
She would talk to Margaret about her gowns , using terms that never before had I heard tell of , and sending as far as Edinburgh for her braws , which , I am thinking , was a waste of good money , but I kept my thumb on that . For the wedding was to come off at the back-end , and I would be hoping that the weather would keep up , and the harvest be well got , wedding or not . And in these long summer evenings very often I would be taking one of the men with me and a net , and taking the boat from the beach we would go out with the splash-net , for I would be fond of the sport as well as of the daintiness of the eating in salmon trout . In the dusk we would be leaving , and whiles not coming in till it was two or three o'clock in the morning . I am thinking that maybe long ago the folk on the island would be watching for an enemy landing from the water , for with the sea as calm as a mill-pond and just the loom of the land -- maybe through a haze -- the senses will become very alert , and any little noise without the boat a man will be hearing , and wondering about , as well as listening to the splash of a fish falling into the water after a gladsome leap , and the noise of splashing of the oars to frighten the salmon-trout into the meshes . On an August evening we were in the little bay near the rock at the mouth of the wee burn that passes the great granite stone on the shore -- for that is a namely place for trout . There was a bright golden gleam as the oars dipped , and a swirl of phosphor fire at the stern like little wandering stars , when I heard the noise of oars and the creak of thole-pins , and I turned to look , thinking maybe some other was at the fishing , but the boat was heading for the port at the Point -- wrack-grown now , and only to be seen at low tide .