Those that accompanied him fell upon his ear with a light, but strange and chilling sound, that filled him with surprise, and something like awe.
In fact, he had never heard anything similar to it before.

It was very strange, he thought, for the sounds, though light, were yet as distinct and well-defined as his own.

He still held a pistol in each hand, and as he had no means of unravelling this mystery so long as he was inwrapped in such Cimmerian gloom, he resolved to accelerate his pace and get into the light of the moon as soon as he could.

He accordingly did so; but the footsteps, although they fell not now so quickly as his own, still seemed to maintain the same distance from him as before.

This certainly puzzled him; and he was attempting, if possible, to solve this new difficulty, when he found himself emerging from the darkness, and in a few moments standing in the light of the moon.