As he did so the door was opened.
By the light of the lamp burning in the passage they beheld silhouetted upon the threshold a black figure crowned by a steeple hat.

Then the droning voice of the Puritan minister greeted them.
"Your hour is at hand!" he announced.
"Is it time ?" asked Galliard from the bed.

And as he put the question he softly thrust aside the trooper's breastplate, and set his hand to the fellow's heart.

It still beat faintly.
"In another hour they will come for you," answered the minister.

And Crispin marvelled anxiously what Kenneth was about.