We couldn't make out whether the sentries were pro-Government or pro-Soviet.
All the Blueskins except a few sentries had gone to bed and were sound asleep.
The murdered sentries had each had a saltire cross slashed across their brows, as by a hunting-knife.
The sentries at the fort had watched the little craft with anxious eyes, wondering if it could be bringing any message.
All the entrances to the Palace Square were closed by sentries, and a cordon of troops stretched clear across the western end, besieged by an uneasy throng of citizens.
Between it and the square was a marble-paved court, with gates of brass, at which stood sentries in gorgeous uniforms, and to which was affixed the following proclamation in letters of gold, large enough for Agnes to read:--
At the inner gate, too, there was a blaze, by the light of which the sentries slowly spelled out our passes and looked us up and down. The canvas covers had been taken off the four rapid-fire guns on each side of the doorway, and the ammunition-belts hung snakelike from their breeches.