Suddenly in the breathless, soundless, hot night an argus pheasant screamed in the woods across the stream.

Davidson started violently, all his senses on the alert at once.
"The candle was still burning in the house.

Everything was quiet again, but Davidson felt drowsy no longer.

An uneasy premonition of evil oppressed him.
"'Surely I am not afraid,' he argued with himself.
"The silence was like a seal on his ears, and his nervous inward impatience grew intolerable.

He commanded himself to keep still.