He had little fear of the inmates of the house taking notice of the fall
of glass; for, had they noticed the sound above the din in the street,
they would have supposed that the breakage was caused by one of the
flying stones. He ran lightly downstairs, and opened a door at the back
of the house, and found himself in the yard. The wall was not very high,
and a spring enabled him to get his fingers on the top. He was soon
sitting there, and then dropped into the road behind.
The sound of his fall caught the ears of the soldiers, who were stationed
at the back of the house from whence he had started, some fifty yards
away. There was a sharp challenge, and then, as no answer was given, four
or five shots were fired, and there was a rush of feet along the road.
As it was only in the principal thoroughfares that a few lights were
exhibited, the road would have been in complete darkness had not the
clouds, just at that moment, blown away from the face of the moon, which
was half full.
The shots, however, had been fired hastily, and Walter dashed off at full
speed, unhurt. He heard shouts from the roofs of the houses, and one or
two shots were fired, but the chance of his being hit was but small. The
sound, however, told the soldiers and crowd in the front street that the
fugitive was escaping at the rear, and there was a general rush down the
street to the next turning.
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