In the Hands of the Reds The next morning Harry went out, as usual, immediately after breakfast, for a walk for two or three hours.

This he did partly to allow the girls to tidy the rooms, an office which had naturally fallen to them since the commencement of their old nurse's illness; partly because in active exercise he found some relief from the burden of his anxieties.

To-day he felt more anxious than ever.

The conversation with Marthe Pichon had afforded good grounds of hope that in a day or two a fair prospect of escape would be open to them; but this only seemed to make the present anxiety all the sharper.
The woman had promised to get disguises, and make the arrangements with her friends at the village below during the course of the day, and by night, if all went well, they might start.

He told himself that he had no reason for supposing that the vague suspicions which were, he knew, afloat would suddenly be converted into action.