Eight o'clock
No sooner had Mercer gone with the supper things than Kent 's knotted fist shook itself fiercely in the direction of the door . `` My God , how I 'd like to have you out in the woods -- alone -- for just one hour ! '' he whispered . Eight o'clock came , and nine . Two or three times he heard voices in the hall , probably Mercer talking with the guard . Once he thought he heard a rumble of thunder , and his heart throbbed joyously . Never had he welcomed a storm as he would have welcomed it tonight .