ten o'clock
I was just weanying for a lad handy with his blade , and the one I would be choosing out of all England came hot-foot round the corner . '' I made nothing of what I had done , but yet his Highland friendliness and flatteries were balm to a sick heart and we parted at my door with a great deal of good-will . ----- -LSB- 1 -RSB- The author takes an early opportunity to express his obligations to the letters of Horace Walpole who was himself so infinitely indebted to the conversation of his cronies . `` Past ten o'clock , and a clear starry night ! '' the watch was bawling as I set out from my rooms to keep my appointment with Lord Balmerino . I had little doubt that a Stuart restoration was the cause for which he was recruiting , and all day I had balanced in my mind the pros and cons of such an attempt . I will never deny that the exiled race held for me a strong fascination .