eight o'clock in the morning
As he passed he could see the tops of heads and the whites of eyes in the windows or round the corners of doors . The only interview which he had was anything but a pleasant one . This was with an odd sort of old man who was hardly ever heard to speak except to join in the ` Amens ' in the meeting-house . His sole occupation seemed to be to wait at the window of the post-office from eight o'clock in the morning till the arrival of the mail at one , when he carried the letter-bag to a neighbouring baronial castle . The remainder of his day was spent on a seat in a draughty part of the port , where the offal of the fish , the refuse of the bait , and the house rubbish was thrown , and where the ducks were accustomed to hold high revel . When Saft Tammie beheld him coming he raised his eyes , which were generally fixed on the nothing which lay on the roadway opposite his seat , and , seeming dazzled as if by a burst of sunshine , rubbed them and shaded them with his hand . Then he started up and raised his hand aloft in a denunciatory manner as he spoke : -- ' `` Vanity of vanities , saith the preacher .