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 lightning 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 . But I knew what I wanted now , and turned and groped my way down again , with a wonderful anger in my heart . About half-way down , the wind sprang up in a clap and shook the tower , and died again ; the rain followed ; and before I had reached the ground level it fell in buckets . I put out my head into the storm , and looked along towards the kitchen . The door , which I had shut behind me when I left , now stood open , and shed a little glimmer of light ; and I thought I could see a figure standing in the rain , quite still , like a man hearkening . And then there came a blinding flash , which showed me my uncle plainly , just where I had fancied him to stand ; and hard upon the heels of it , a great tow-row of thunder . Now , whether my uncle thought the crash to be the sound of my fall , or whether he heard in it God 's voice denouncing murder , I will leave you to guess .
Certain it is , at least , that he was seized on by a kind of panic fear , and that he ran into the house and XXXXX the door open behind him .
bannisters breaches downwards left lightning lofts masonwork murder storeys tow-row