about one o'clock in the morning
All confirmed drunkards have in their drunkenness some ruling principle , which ; however far gone they may be , regulates their wayward movements . The writer 's habit was to sit when he thought he could not stand -- one which many sober men might do well to adopt . The weaver 's , again , was to _ walk _ when he wished not to stand the reckoning -- a prudent maxim which never left him , even when all other ideas had been washed from his brain . It was now about one o'clock in the morning , and they had drank so much that neither of them could tell -- for neither had any interest in a matter which did not seem to concern his pocket -- how much would require to be paid ; it was enough for Duncan Schulebred , that he knew that something , and not little , _ must _ be paid -- and now was the time for escape . `` We were speakin o ' the law , '' said Duncan Schulebred , winking with cunning and hiccuping with drink -- `` I fancy they never refuse siller at the _ bar _ here , ony mair than they do in Dumfarlan . There is only this difference atween the twa -- that the folk wha resort to _ your _ bar pay when they enter , we -LRB- hiccup -RRB- pay as we gae oot . Rest yersel there till I cast up the bill , and if I hae ony _ plea _ wi ' the landlord , ye can come and plead it . ''