about midnight
And , saying thus , the strong man took his immediate departure , and disappeared amongst the woods . Poor Gilbert did as he was instructed , and , in about an hour , reached the dismal solitude of Castle-Hermitage . There , on some straw which still remained from the time when poor Sir Alexander Ramsay of Dalhousie had been starved to death by Sir William Douglas , did this poor persecuted man remain till the following morning . In the meantime , Johnstone having discovered that he had been sent on a fool 's errand , and that no such meeting was about to take place , as the curate had been advertised of , at the Dead-Water-Moss , returned in no very good humour -- first , to the manse of Castleton , from which he proposed ejecting the curate over the precipice , which lay underneath his window , and then , about midnight , to the inn at the Brig-end of Liddel Water . Here his rage was converted into fury at the trick which had now manifestly been played upon him ; and he stamped , and swore , and blasphemed during the remainder of the night ; drinking , however , and eating mutton ham , by turns , and warning his man that , so soon as day broke , they should give chase to the old fox . Day broke , and chase was given . Some were dismissed in one direction , and some in another ; and , as the snow had been undisturbed from the time of the escape till morning , it was naturally guessed that the footsteps of the pursued might still be traced .