He suspected that the Christians were in the hold, but he was afraid to search far.
He had not been long hidden before he heard near him the sound of a great sigh and the rattling of a chain, as of some animal half-wakened from sleep.
"It is some wild animal that is to be taken to Rome," suspected Heraklas, not without a little uneasiness at his own proximity to the beast.
It was likely that the creature was well secured, yet the lad crept farther away.

He could hear the sound of feet above him and the laughter of men who, no doubt, were drinking on this almost their last night in port.
A sound came from another portion of the hold, and Heraklas listened, trying to discover whether the living being in that direction were a beast or a person.

While he listened, a faint light began to shine in the hold.

There descended softly into the hold two men, one bearing a light.

Heraklas drew back farther into the darkness.