I made them out to be the steps of two persons, and was still lost in conjectures who they might be, when a hand knocked gently at my door.
Fearing another trick, I did not at once open, the more so there was something stealthy and insinuating in the knock.

Thereupon my visitors held a whispered consultation; then they knocked again.

I asked loudly who was there, but to this they did not choose to give any answer, while I, on my part, determined not to open until they did.

The door was strong, and I smiled grimly at the thought that this time they would have their trouble for their pains.
To my surprise, however, they did not desist, and go away, as I expected, but continued to knock at intervals and whisper much between times.

More than once they called me softly by name and bade me open, but as they steadily refrained from saying who they were, I sat still.
Occasionally I heard them laugh, but under their breath as it were; and persuaded by this that they were bent on a frolic, I might have persisted in my silence until midnight, which was not more than two hours off, had not a slight sound, as of a rat gnawing behind the wainscot, drawn my attention to the door.