Byrne had just heard of him.
And again the young man felt the blood beating in his ears.

He sat still expecting every moment to hear through the pulsating strokes the sound of Tom's voice.

He waited straining his ears, but nothing came.

Suddenly the thought occurred to him: "He has not disappeared, but he cannot make himself heard." He jumped up from the arm-chair.

How absurd! Laying his pistol and his hanger on the table he took off his boots and, feeling suddenly too tired to stand, flung himself on the bed which he found soft and comfortable beyond his hopes.
He had felt very wakeful, but he must have dozed off after all, because the next thing he knew he was sitting up in bed and trying to recollect what it was that Tom's voice had said.