I tap three times. No answer. Again three times. Still no answer. It was diabolically dark, and the trees made rustling noises very disconcerting to the nerves of one unaccustomed to practise these preliminaries before calling upon a friend.
“The devil!” I say to myself. “This time I shall make Mr. Hankey hear me.”
And so I knocked very sharply and loudly, so sharply that I cracked the pane.
“Unfortunate,” I thought; “but why should I not convert Hankey's misfortune into my advantage?”
With the intention of perhaps obtaining a glimpse into the room, I pushed the pane till, with an alarming crash, a considerable portion fell upon the gravel.
With a start I turned, and there, approaching me from either side, were two men. Hankey had evidently heard me at last.
“Who are you?” said one of them, a stout gentleman, I could see, with a consequential voice. I came a step towards him. “For the King,” I replied.