Finally they stopped and waited a full two hours in the thickets, the contest becoming one of patience.
Meanwhile the night was absolutely silent.

The wind was dead, and the leaves hung straight down.

The deep, slow current of the river, although flowing between narrow banks, made no noise, and Robert's mind, colored by the conditions of the moment, began to believe that the enemy had gone away.

It was impossible for them to wait so long for foresters whom they did not see and who might never come.

Then he dismissed imagination and impression, and turned with a wrench to his judgment.