pile, the dim shapes of two other men paused irresolute, as if their advance had been checked by the sudden opening of the window.
For two seconds General Sadgrove’s eyes blazed along the line of light; then with a spring that would have done credit to one of half his age, he hurled himself upon the combatants, and selecting the topmost for his onslaught, dragged him from the prone figure below.
“Get back to the window! Watch those other fellows!” he called to his nephew, who was hurrying to his assistance. And Forsyth did as he was bid, though he had hardly run back and put himself on guard when the two distant prowlers vanished into the deeper shadows of the refectory wall.
With no gentle hand the General hauled his struggling captive towards the window. Half Forsyth’s attention was diverted to the other party to the fray, who was slowly rising from the ground, and the other half to the dark end of the terrace, where the remaining pair had disappeared; and it was therefore not until the General had arrived, hanging like a terrier to his prisoner, that the obedient sentinel had eyes for them. But at last he had to stand aside to
[159]
