Gertie seemed frozen into motionlessness in her corner, almost as if she had had experience of this kind of thing before.

Frank listened with all his ears; it was useless to stare into the dark: here in this barn the blackness was complete.
At first there was no sound at all, except a very soft occasional scrape of a boot-nail that betokened that the Major was seeking cover somewhere.

Then, so suddenly that he started all over, Frank felt a hand on his arm and smelt a tobacco-laden breath.

(Alas! there had been no drink to-night.) "See here, Frankie, my boy....

I ...