No unusual sounds betokened that the redcoats had heard the warning noise.
All was still save for the sounds of revelry in the apartment below, and the hum of the soldiers' voices nearabout the stables on the other side of the dwelling.
"Try it again," Evan whispered with feverish eagerness. "We have raised it half an inch already, and as much more of a strain will leave it in such shape that it can be readily pushed aside."
Nathan did as his comrade suggested, and save for a slight creaking now and then, the work was carried on.—[Page 91].
Nathan did as his comrade suggested, and save for a slight creaking now and then, the work was carried on in almost perfect silence until the bar hung only by the points of the nails.
It remained simply to force it outward with their hands, at the same time preventing it from falling to the ground.
With this removed, the aperture would be sufficiently large to admit of their crawling through, and the time had come, thanks to the spy who would have taken their lives had his power been sufficient, that they might follow on the trail of Sarah Dillard to Greene's Spring, if her mad ride had not led her to death elsewhere.
"There is no reason why we should waste any time here," Evan said hurriedly, nervous now that the moment for action had arrived. "The redcoats may come at any moment to see how their spy is faring, and it would be a grievous disappointment to find ourselves checked at the instant when it seems as if we were freed."