Beaumaroy Home from the Wars by Antonio Hope

Sergeant Hooper took up his appointed position on the flagged path that led up to the cottage door. His primary task was to give warning if anybody should come out of the door; a secondary one was to give the alarm in case of interruption by passers-by on the road -- an unlikely peril this latter, in view of the hour, the darkness of the night, and the practised noiselessness with which Mike might be relied upon to do his work. Here then the Sergeant was left, after being accorded another nip from the flask -- which, however, Neddy kept in his own hands this time -- and a whispered but vigorously worded exhortation to keep up his courage.

Neddy the Shover and gentlemanly Mike tiptoed off to the window, on the right-hand side of the door as one approached the house from the road. The bottom of the window was about seven feet from the ground. Neddy bent down and offered his broad back as a platform to his companion. Mike mounted thereon and began his work. That, in itself, was child's play to him; the match-boarding was but lightly nailed on; the fastenings came away in a moment under the skilful application of his instrument; the window sash behind was not even bolted, for the bolt had perished with time and had not been replaced. So far, very good! But at this early point Mike received his first surprise. He could not see much of the interior; a tall curtain stretched across the entire breadth of the window, distant about two feet from it; but he could see that the room was lighted up.