A PROMISE KEPT The room in which John was confined contained only a bed, a chair and a table.

It was lighted by a single window, from which he could see numerous soldiers below.

He also heard the distant mutter of the cannon, which seemed now to have become a part of nature.

There were periods of excitement or of mental detachment, when he did not notice it, but it was always there.

Now the soldiers in the grounds were moving but little, and the air pulsed with the thud of the great guns.
He recalled again his promise, or rather threat, to Auersperg that he would escape.