These notes of grief came down through the chinks of the floor to the ears of the women below, who jumped up one by one, and seemed glad of the excuse to ascend and comfort the baby, for the incidents of the last half-hour greatly oppressed them.

Thus in the space of two or three minutes the room on the ground-floor was deserted quite.
But it was not for long.

Hardly had the sound of footsteps died away when a man returned round the corner of the house from the direction the pursuers had taken.

Peeping in at the door, and seeing nobody there, he entered leisurely.

It was the stranger of the chimney-corner, who had gone out with the rest.