It was getting dark, and the rain came down ceaselessly, yet so strong was his certainty that here he should discover the evidence he was looking for, that for another half-hour he plied his trowel diligently.

Sometimes when it struck on a stone or the roots of a bramble, he trembled with anticipation; and once, when, groping under a hedge, his hand suddenly encountered a dead rat, his hair literally stood on end.
He began to get nervous and uncomfortable.

The night became suddenly dark, and the wind whistled all sorts of weird tunes among the trees.
Jonah did not exactly believe in ghosts; still, if there were such things, this was just the night and just the place for the ghost he was looking for to take its walk abroad.

He did not like it, and began to wish he was safe at home.

The bushes round him began to rustle noisily, and a gate in the field swung to and fro with an almost human groan.