On another occasion, in the darkness of middle night, an Imperial soldier who had lost his way came down the steps and put his head into my door and began to stammer and hiss in such an extraordinary way that Alberta was roused and barked (p.

175) furiously.

I woke up with a start and asked what the matter was, but all I could get from the poor man was a series of noises and hisses.

I turned on my flashlight, and a very muddy face covered with a shock of red hair looked in at the door of my little room, and with many contortions and winkings, emitted a series of incomprehensible noises.
What with the stammering man and the barking dog, I was at my wits end to find out the trouble.

At last by a process of synthesis, I pieced the various sounds together and found that the man wanted the location of a certain British battery.