moned enough courage to lift his bags and attempt the descent. During this interim the lights had been extinguished and the house was submerged in an inky darkness. It would be much too dangerous, he considered, to risk turning even a single switch. He decided, therefore, to attempt his clandestine flight in the dark.
Slowly and stealthily with his two bags he moved in the direction which he thought was well-remembered. Subsequent events proved that, generally speaking, he had followed the correct path. At the top of the staircase, however, probably urged on by his trepidation, he had slightly accelerated his pace with the unfortunate result that he had collided with a bronze Chinese warrior set on a teakwood pedestal. He, the warrior, the pedestal, and his two bags had immediately made the descent of the staircase in company at full tilt. The resulting din, despite the fact that his very fear had choked the cry in his throat, had been colossal. Terrified by the accident, besides suffering from bruises and shock, he had not contrived to extricate himself from bronze and leather before the lower hall was brightly illuminated and filled with servants, a few fully attired, others in hastily donned dressing-gowns. Their astonishment at, and disapproval of, this unseemly
