Six Austin found the door ajar, and the interior dark.

To his surprise, the boy Thompson's couch, as revealed by the rays of his lamp, was likewise vacant.

He was turning back when he fancied he heard the sibilation of a whispering in the room.

Sir Austin cloaked the lamp and trod silently toward the window.

The heads of his son Richard and the boy Thompson were seen crouched against the glass, holding excited converse together.
Sir Austin listened, but he listened to a language of which he possessed not the key.