ten
o'clock
To this Patsy had replied , moistening the stub of her `` killevine '' in her mouth as she had been wont to do at school : _ `` Dear Jean , -- of course I shall be there ! '' _ * * * * * Never fell gloaming so slowly for Spy Eben of Stonykirk as that of Friday the 26th of June . The red in the west mounted ever higher , revealing and painting infinitely the remote strata of cloud-flecks which thinned out into the azure . At half-past nine it seemed that ten o'clock would find the old military road upon which debouched the little avenue of Ladykirk , still as bright as upon a mellow afternoon . But arriving suddenly and surpassing all his hopes , a wind from the sea began to blow , bringing up the outside fog from the ocean . First it came in puffs and slow dragging wreaths , but afterwards with the march of steady army corps which sponged out the house , the trees and the road . By ten all was slaty grey dusk , into which a man could stretch his hand well out of his own sight .