eight
in the morning
They made up a lair for me with abundant greatcoats in the corner of the room , and my eyes gradually closed in sleep , catching , till they were finally sealed up , every now and then , twinklings of bare legs and well-turned ankles , mingled with the clatter of heavy brogues , and the drone of a bagpipe that had now superseded the squeak of the fife , and the rattle of the drum . I certainly did dream , I suppose about an hour after I had fallen asleep , of the clattering of sticks , the squalling of women , and the cursing of men ; and I felt an indistinct sensation , as if people were practising leaping over my body , and finally , as if some soft-rounded figure had caught me in her arms . I was so terribly oppressed with fatigue that I could not awake ; and , as the last part of my dream gave me so sweet an idea of happiness and security , if I may use the expression , I shall say , as every novelist has a right to do once in his three volumes -- `` I was lapped in Elysium . '' Everything was oblivion until I was awakened by one of my lads at eight in the morning , and I arose refreshed , though a little stiff . The hardened clay , which composed the floor , was neatly swept up , the pigs and the poultry were driven out , and a good fire was blazing under the chimney . Of all the party of the night before , there remained only the two fine young men who brought me and my boat up , the elderly couple , and two blooming girls , with the youngest of whom I had danced almost the whole of the previous evening . I observed on one of the young men a tremendous black eye , that certainly was not there the day before , and the other had his temples carefully bandaged , and both my boat-boys complained of being kicked and trampled on during the night , yet I am not so ungrateful , upon such slender evidence , as to assert that the dance had ended in a scrimmage , or so presumptuous as to say in what manner I thought that I had been protected during the row , if there had been one .