I could feel her form tremble as I touched her, and she caught my arm with both hands, her face turned backward.
"They are relieving guard," she faltered, "and will come past here next, for there is a sentry on the opposite side.

We must get farther down under the vines." I drew her forward, for she clung to me strangely, as though all the courage and strength had suddenly deserted her.
"There are no guards down here ?" "No." "Nor at the stables ?" "I cannot tell; I was afraid to ask." The arbor ended some thirty feet from the stables, with a low, vine-covered fence between.

There have been darker nights, yet I could distinguish merely the dim outlines.

Still feeling her clasp on my arm I came to a halt, startled into absolute silence by the approach of the relief guard.

The sturdy tramp of feet, and the slight tinkle of bayonets against canteens, told plainly the fellows had turned our way, although, crouched where we were, we could at first see nothing.