“We must not be too sure. A few may be left behind to keep watch.”
“Not them, sir. I can’t see as it’s likely.”
Bracy was silent for a few moments, during which he listened intently for the faintest sound; but all was still.
“Get up,” he said briefly, and then started at his own voice, it sounded so husky and strange.
Gedge uttered a sigh of relief as he shook the adhering snow from his woolly coat.
“Stiff, Gedge?” said Bracy.
“Horrid, sir. A good fight wouldn’t come amiss. Hear me laugh, sir?”
“When you made that sound?”
“Yes, sir: that bit would come out, though I’d shut my mouth with my hand.”
“What made you laugh at such a time?”