The man could not have escaped with the guard that we've set around the house." The sergeant and his men made another search.

They penetrated every place in which a human being could possibly hide.

They thrust their rifle barrels up the chimneys, and they turned down the bed covers, but again they found nothing.

Dick meanwhile remained as before in the large room, covertly watching the woman, lest she give a signal to the rifleman who must be somewhere.
All the while the perfume of the roses was growing stronger and more penetrating, a light wind that had sprung up bringing it through the open window.

It thrilled Dick in some singular manner, and the strangeness of the scene heightened its effect.