three minutes before seven
` I 'll tak ' ye on ! ' It may be said at once that the wager was never decided , for the simple reason that when the time came Willie refused all information -- including the fact that his aunt had kissed him . Which is not , alas , to say that his future references to her were to be more respectful than formerly . * * * * * At three minutes before seven Macgregor stood outside Miss Tod 's little shop , waiting for the departure of a customer . It would be absurd to say that his knees shook , but it is a fact that his spirit trembled . Suspended from a finger of his left hand was a small package of Christina 's favourite sweets , which unconsciously he kept spinning all the time . His right hand was chiefly occupied in feeling for a pocket which no longer existed , and then trying to look as if it had been doing something entirely different .