This, with the stillness all about, enabled me to hear the voices of the men in the kitchen below, and to become aware that the firing, sounding from a distance since early morning, seemed now much closer at hand.

It was not altogether artillery any longer, but I could plainly distinguish the volleys of musketry.

What could this signify?
Were the Confederates being forced back?
If so would the Hardy house be caught in the maelstrom of retreat?
The possibility of such a result only made haste more imperative.

There were three doors at the right, and two opposite.
I opened these cautiously, half expecting Le Gaire to dash out, with any weapon he might have secured, desperate enough to fight hard.

But nothing occurred, the rooms showed no sign of having been lately occupied.