A day or two of murky weather seemed to penetrate the mental atmosphere as well. It was perhaps the inauguration of the chill interval known as "blackberry winter." Everywhere the great brambles were snowy with bloom, and in the house the "ladies" shivered and clasped their cold elbows in the sleeves of their thin summer dresses till the fenders and fire-dogs were brought out once more, and the flicker of hearthstone flames made cheery the aspect of the library, and dispensed a genial warmth. The air was moist; the trains ran with a dull roar and an undertone of reverberation; there was a collision of boats in the fog on the river, involving loss of life, and one night, the window being up, the sentry in passing called Captain Baynell out on the portico. He said he hesitated to summon the corporal of the guard, lest the sound should pass before the non-commissioned officer could come. "What sound?" asked Baynell. "Listen, sir," said the sentry. The night was dark. There was no moon. The stars now and then glimmering through the mists afforded scant illumination to the earth. The fires of the troops in bivouac about the town shone like thousands of constellations, reflected by the earth. The wind was surging fitfully among the pines. There was a dull iterative beat, rather felt than heard. "The train?" suggested Baynell. "The train is in, sir." "Must have been a freight," Baynell hazarded, for the indefinite vibration had ceased. "That's 'hep, hep, hep,'--that's marching feet, sir,--that's what it is!" "Well, what of that?" Baynell demanded. "It's the corporal of the guard going out with the relief." "It's too early----" "Grand Rounds, possibly." "It's too near," objected the man. "It's very near." The wind struck their faces with a dank fillip of dew. The vine hard by was dripping; they could hear the drops fall, and a silent interval, and again a falling drop. "There is nothing now," said Baynell. "It was doubtless some patrol. The air is very moist, and sounds are heavier than usual." "This seemed to me very near, sir," said the soldier, discontentedly. He wished he had fired his piece and called for the corporal of the guard. He had hesitated, for the corporal had scant patience with a military zealot who was forever discovering causes of alarm without foundation, and this exercise of judgment was a strain on a soldier's sense of duty. He had expected the captain to respond to the mere suggestion of a secret approach, remembering the search for the hidden Rebel officer. But Baynell had never heard of that episode!