It sounded over that
portion of the roof which was farthest from the door, toward which I now
glided; and as I took my stand under cover of the projecting angle of a
clumsy old press that stood close by it, I perceived the room a little
darkened, and I saw a man descend and take his stand upon the window-stone.
He let go a rope, which, however, was still fast round his body, and
employed both his hands, with apparently some exertion, about something at
the side of the window, which in a moment more, in one mass, bars and all,
swung noiselessly open, admitting the frosty night-air; and the man, whom
I now distinctly saw to be Dudley Ruthyn, kneeled on the sill, and stept,
after a moment's listening, into the room. His foot made no sound upon the
floor; his head was bare, and he wore his usual short shooting-jacket.
I cowered to the ground in my post of observation. He stood, as it
seemed to me irresolutely for a moment, and then drew from his pocket an
instrument which I distinctly saw against the faint moonlight. Imagine a
hammer, one end of which had been beaten out into a longish tapering spike,
with a handle something longer than usual.
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