It was the voice of a great gun carrying an immense distance in the night, and it struck like a hammer upon his heart.

It seemed to him a warning that the path that way, the way Auersperg had undoubtedly gone with Julie, was barred.
He walked up the newly trodden road into Chastel, and then he darted back again to cover.

He saw the gleam of many gray uniforms and he heard a clank which he knew could be made only by the wheels of cannon.

The new forces of the enemy were coming and evidently they were now in great strength in Chastel and beyond it.

John's heart leaped in alarm.
It was a powerful flank movement, a daring and successful attempt under cover of the storm, and he recognized at once all his dangers.
Keeping as well under cover as he could, he turned and raced toward the bridge.