midnight
This room was aye lockit when he wasna in it , and naebody was ever allowed tae gang into it . He would mak ' his ain bed , and red it up and dust it a ' by himsel ' , but he wouldna so much as allow one o ' us to set fut on the passage that led tae it . At nicht he would walk a ' ower the hoose , and he had lamps hung in every room and corner , so that no pairt should be dark . Many 's the time frae my room in the garret I 've heard his futsteps comin ' and gangin ' , comin ' and gangin ' doon one passage and up anither frae midnight till cockcraw . It was weary wark to lie listenin ' tae his clatter and wonderin ' whether he was clean daft , or whether maybe he 'd lairnt pagan and idolatrous tricks oot in India , and that his conscience noo was like the worm which gnaweth and dieth not . I 'd ha ' speered frae him whether it wouldna ease him to speak wi ' the holy Donald McSnaw , but it might ha ' been a mistake , and the general wasna a man that you 'd care tae mak ' a mistake wi ' . Ane day I was workin ' at the grass border when he comes up and he says , says he : `` Did ye ever have occasion tae fire a pistol , Israel ? ''