midnight
Yet she trudged and trudged on , shutting her mouth against her empty stomach to keep out the cold north wind . She is at the foot of Inverleith Row , and her face is to the west ; she will now escape the desultory blasts by keeping close by the long running dyke . She passes the scene of the robbery without knowing it ; else , doubtless , she would have stood and examined it by those instincts that force the spirit to such modes of satisfaction , as if the inanimate thing could calm the spiritual . She was now drawing to Davidson 's Mains : a little longer , and much past midnight , she was rapping , still in her quiet way , at the door of her brother . The family had had something else to do than to sleep . There were the sounds of tongues and high words . Mrs. S -- th was surprised , as well she might ; for though sometimes Mr. Henderson partook freely of the bottle when he met old friends in town , he and the whole household were peaceable , orderly , and early goers to bed .