nearly noon before
Once or twice , indeed , he heard the galloping of bodies of horse , and the sound of distant pistol shots and the shrieks of women came faintly to his ears . He passed on , however , without meeting with any of the foraging parties , and by morning was fifteen miles away from Tilly 's camp . Entering a wood he threw himself down and slept soundly for some hours . It was nearly noon before he started again . After an hour 's walking he came upon the ruins of a village . Smoke was still curling up from the charred beams and rafters of the cottages , and the destruction had evidently taken place but the day before . The bodies of several men and women lay scattered among the houses ; two or three dogs were prowling about , and these growled angrily at the intruder , and would have attacked him had he not flourished a club which he had cut in the woods for self defence .