four in the morning
To tell ye the truth , lad , I never was thinking ony mair aboot it , nor wad it hae entered into my head again , had ye no mentioned it . '' `` I do not care , '' says I , rather wittily , `` how seldom it enter your _ head _ , Margery , so long as it engage your _ heart _ . '' `` Ye 're a queer man , '' says she , `` to be a schulemaister ; '' and skipped aff to the manse , without expressing the least desire to see me again . When I went home and lay down in bed that night , I could do nothing but toss and tumble ; and aye as my silliness recurred to me , I would have uttered a loud _ hem _ , as a person will do when he is clearing his throat , to keep the racking thought down ; but , in spite o ' a ' I could do , it continued uppermost , and kept torturing me till better than half-past four in the morning . Weel , thinks I , this is really a fine pass I 've brought mysel to ! I 'll not only become the laughingstock o ' the minister and his wife , but the whole town will join in with ready chorus . Time slipped on , however , and things remained much the same , save that Margery took upon hersel a great many airs , and behaved on a ' occasions as if I were her humble servant .