eight o'clock in the
morning
He inspected Bobby all over with anxious scrutiny , and gave each of the bairns a threepenny-bit , but he had no blithe greeting for them . Much preoccupied , he went off at once , with the animated little muff of a dog at his heels . In truth , Mr. Traill was thinking about how he might best plead Bobby 's cause with the Lord Provost . The note that was handed him , on leaving the Burgh court the day before , had read : `` Meet me at the Regent 's Tomb in St. Giles at eight o'clock in the morning , and bring the wee Highlander with you . -- Glenormiston . '' On the first reading the landlord 's spirits had risen , out of all proportion to the cause , owing to his previous depression . But , after all , the appointment had no official character , since the Regent 's Tomb in St. Giles had long been a sort of town pump for the retailing of gossip and for the transaction of trifling affairs of all sorts .