ten o'clock
Nigh twenty-two hours too early to see the mayor ! '' `` But we ` phoned the house and were told he had left to come to the office ! '' `` The mayor -- mind ye , the _ mayor _ -- he cooms frae the mill at -- '' Mac Tavish remembered the crashing blow to his proud pronunciamiento that forenoon , and his natural caution regarding statements caused him to hesitate . `` He is supposed to coom frae the mill at ten o'clock , antemeridian ! Postmeridian , Master Morrison , of St. Ronan 's -- not the mayor -- he cooms to his desk yon -- well , when he cooms isna the concern o ' those who are speirin for a mayor . '' The gentlemen of the committee exchanged wise grins , suggestively sardonic grins , and sat down . Mac Tavish , bristling in silence over his figures , was comforted by the ever-springing hope that this intrusion might serve as the last straw on the overloaded Morrison endurance .