He was in a corner, he had the five men in front of him, and between them and himself stood a solid table.

A loaded pistol was in his belt, his sword hung at his side, and his hunting knife at his waist.

Still the aspect of affairs was changed.
"Five men," thought he, "upon a narrow staircase are merely one man who has to be killed five times, but five men in a room are five simultaneous assailants.

I need O'Toole here, I need O'Toole's six feet four and the length of his arm and the weight of him--these things I need--but are there five or only four ?" And he was at once aware that the two men at the fire had ceased to talk of their business.

No one, indeed, was speaking at all, and no one so much as shuffled a foot.
Wogan raised his head and proceeded to light his pipe; and he saw that all the five men were silently watching him, and it seemed to him that those five pairs of eyes were unnaturally bright.
However, he appeared to be entirely concerned with his pipe, which, however hard he puffed at it, would not draw.