about two in the morning
At hearing this , some witty rascal roared out -- '' _ Doun _ wi ' the souters o ' Selkirk , And _ up _ wi ' the Yearl o ' Hume . '' And , suiting the action to the words , _ doun _ from the chaise they accordingly dragged me ; but , as I would not on any account enter Miss Cochrane 's house , the youngsters lifted me into a butcher 's slaughtering barrow , and whirled me along the pavement like daft devils ; and in the lapse o ' a few minutes , I was thudded against my landlady 's door , and tumbled out on the dirty street , as unceremoniously as if I had been the `` lord o ' misrule '' at a village feast . Being carried up-stairs and laid upon a sofa , I was owre asleep before ye could say `` Jock Robinson , '' and as unconscious o ' the late hullybilloo as the bairn unborn . The burning fever , however , that the drink had flung me into would not let me sleep for any length o ' time ; and about two in the morning I awoke , with my tongue sticking to my mouth , as if it had been tacked ; nor could I open my lips wide aneugh to let in a teaspoon shank , though my very throat was cracking with the heat , like a piece o ' parched muirland . In raising mysel on the sofa , I fortunately got hold o ' the bell-rope , and , resting mysel on my elbow , I rang it as furiously as if the house had been in flames about my ears . `` What , what , what is the matter with you ? '' sputtered the terrified landlady , scrambling up the stairs .