At a later period he had heard the horses being brought round the house;
heard plainly the jingle of the bits and a sneeze or two. This had been
followed by long interminable talking, muffled and indistinguishable,
that came up to him from some unknown direction. Voices changed
curiously in loudness and articulation as the speakers moved about.
At a later period a loud trampling had begun again, plainly from the
hall: he had interpreted this to mean that the prisoners were being
removed out of doors; and he had been confirmed in this by hearing
immediately afterwards again the stamping of horses and the creaking of
leather.
Again there had been a pause, broken suddenly by loud women's wailing.
And at last the noise of horses moving off; the noise grew less; a man
ran suddenly through the archway and out again, and, little by little,
complete silence once more.
Yet he had not dared to move. It was the custom, he knew, sometimes to
leave three or four men on guard for a day or two after such an assault,
in the hope of starving out any hidden fugitives that might still be
left. So he waited again--period after period; he dozed a little for
weariness, propped against the narrow walls of his hidinghole; woke;
felt again for food and found he had eaten it all ... dozed again.
Then he had started up suddenly, for without any further warning there
had come a tiny indeterminate tapping against his panel. He held his
breath and listened.
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