sickening sense of his unworthiness he now inserted it into

the well-oiled lock and entered that citadel of the

proprieties! All slept; the gas in the hall had been left

faintly burning to light his return; a dreadful stillness

reigned, broken by the deep ticking of the eight-day clock.

He put the gas out, and sat on a chair in the hall, waiting

and counting the minutes, longing for any human countenance.

But when at last he heard the alarm spring its rattle in the

lower story, and the servants begin to be about, he instantly

lost heart, and fled to his own room, where he threw himself

upon the bed.

Tales and Fantasies