But the stairs are grand underfoot . '' Out I went into the night . The wind was still moaning in the distance , though never a breath of it came near the house of Shaws . It had fallen blacker than ever ; and I was glad to feel along the wall , till I came the length of the stairtower door at the far end of the unfinished wing . I had got the key into the keyhole and had just turned it , when all upon a sudden , without sound of wind or thunder , the whole sky lighted up with wild fire and went black again . I had to put my hand over my eyes to get back to the colour of the darkness ; and indeed I was already half blinded when I stepped into the tower . It was so dark inside , it seemed a body could scarce breathe ; but I pushed out with foot and hand , and presently struck the wall with the one , and the lowermost round of the stair with the other . The wall , by the touch , was of fine hewn stone ; the steps too , though somewhat steep and narrow , were of polished masonwork , and regular and solid underfoot . Minding my uncle 's word about the bannisters , I kept close to the tower side , and felt my way in the pitch darkness with a beating heart . The house of Shaws stood some five full storeys high , not counting lofts . Well , as I advanced , it seemed to me the stair grew airier and a thought more lightsome ; and I was wondering what might be the cause of this change , when a second blink of the summer lightning came and went . If I did not cry out , it was because fear had me by the throat ; and if I did not fall , it was more by Heaven 's mercy than my own strength . It was not only that the flash shone in on every side through breaches in the wall , so that I seemed to be clambering aloft upon an open scaffold , but the same passing brightness showed me the steps were of unequal length , and that one of my feet rested that moment within two inches of the well . This was the grand stair ! I thought ; and with the thought , a gust of a kind of angry courage came into my heart . My uncle had sent me here , certainly to run great risks , perhaps to die . I swore I would settle that `` perhaps , '' if I should break my neck for it ; got me down upon my hands and knees ; and as slowly as a snail , feeling before me every inch , and testing the solidity of every stone , I continued to ascend the stair . The darkness , by contrast with the flash , appeared to have redoubled ; nor was that all , for my ears were now troubled and my mind confounded by a great stir of bats in the top part of the tower , and the foul beasts , flying downwards , sometimes beat about my face and body . The tower , I should have said , was square ; and in every corner the step was made of a great stone of a different shape to join the flights . Well , I had come close to one of these turns , when , feeling forward as usual , my hand slipped upon an edge and found nothing but emptiness beyond it .
The stair had been carried no higher ; to set a stranger mounting it in the darkness was to send him straight to his death ; and -LRB- although , thanks to the XXXXX and my own precautions , I was safe enough -RRB- the mere thought of the peril in which I might have stood , and the dreadful height I might have fallen from , brought out the sweat upon my body and relaxed my joints .
Shaws bannisters breaches colour fire lightning lofts masonwork night second