about eleven o'clock at night
It was with bitter ill-will that he relinquished these comforts -LRB- which he called his studies -RRB- in order to recommence a hard ride upon a high-trotting horse . However , when he knew the matter in hand , he gave up , with a deep groan , the prospect of spending a quiet evening in his own little parlour ; for he entirely agreed with Morton , that whatever interest Burley might have in rendering the breach between the presbyterians and the government irreconcilable , by putting the young nobleman to death , it was by no means that of the moderate party to permit such an act of atrocity . And it is but doing justice to Mr Poundtext to add , that , like most of his own persuasion , he was decidedly adverse to any such acts of unnecessary violence ; besides , that his own present feelings induced him to listen with much complacence to the probability held out by Morton , of Lord Evandale 's becoming a mediator for the establishment of peace upon fair and moderate terms . With this similarity of views , they hastened their journey , and arrived about eleven o'clock at night at a small hamlet adjacent to the Castle at Tillietudlem , where Burley had established his head-quarters . They were challenged by the sentinel , who made his melancholy walk at the entrance of the hamlet , and admitted upon declaring their names and authority in the army . Another soldier kept watch before a house , which they conjectured to be the place of Lord Evandale 's confinement , for a gibbet of such great height as to be visible from the battlements of the Castle , was erected before it , in melancholy confirmation of the truth of Mrs Wilson 's report . -LSB- Note : The Cameronians had suffered persecution , but it was without learning mercy .