A mysterious danger was the worst of all, and his nerves were on edge.

Think as he might, he could not conceive how or where the attack would be made.

The only sound in the valley was the occasional stamp of the horses in the woods and behind the windrows.
The soldiers themselves made no noise.

The steps of the sentinels were softened in the snow, and the fires, having sunk to beds of coals, gave forth no crackling sounds.
He stared down the gap, and then up at the white world of walls circling them about.

The sky seemed to have become a more dazzling blue than ever, and the great stars with the hosts of their smaller brethren around them gleamed and quivered.