“Don’t speak, master, but watch and wait; you will hear,” said Jane, in a low whisper.
She was standing as if in anxious expectation—one hand raised to her ear, the other grasping the fowling-piece.
The two Ashbrooks listened again, and as the moonlight ebbed slowly from the room like a great white wave streaming back towards the sea, they heard a thin scraping sound, which was unlike anything they had heard before. This mysterious sound was followed by deep and heavy blows.
“Are you satisfied now?” said the maid.
“What is it?” they inquired.
She answered in a low, horse voice—
“Robbers, burglars, assassins!”
The two farmers stole hastily but silently from their beds.
Jane immediately left the room.
They at once proceeded to arouse Mr. Cheadle and Jamblin. All this was done as noiselessly as possible. When the four men were up and dressed, Maude Ashbrook joined them, declaring that she would not leave the side of her brothers upon any consideration.