The String of Pearls (1850), p. 577

"Follow me, and be careful, I am afraid the light might gleam through some key-hole, and betray us. Come on, and recollect that a slip or a stumble may be fatal. Think that the rope is about your neck."

TODD KILLS THE MURDERER, LUPIN,
{Figure}

"Hush! hush! Are you mad to go on talking so?"

Todd said no more, and Lupin crept on until he got right to the top of the stairs. Then holding by a balustrade that was continued along the landing, he reached the head of another flight of steps, which led directly down to the hall or passage of the Governor s house. Lupin was terribly afraid that Todd would come upon these second stairs at unawares, and stumble down some of them, so he