so many nights he 'd lay nearly but not quite dozing , and one of the guards outside his door would cough , or shuffle his feet , or ( sometimes , and he needed to do something about that ) snore , and the noise would startle him back to wakefulness ; and tonight , when he needed someone within reach , someone to bring a lamp and look in the room and tell him there was only some damned pigeon that had got in here , when he needed wine and needed it badly , and now , everything was silent .