In
the pale bluish light of the sulphur, in the vacillating glimmer, he
fancied he could distinguish monstrous forms. Then the match crackled,
and the light became white and clear.
Laurent, relieved, advanced with caution, careful not to be without a
match. When he had passed the entrance to the cellar, he clung to the
opposite wall where a mass of darkness terrified him. He next briskly
scaled the few steps separating him from the office of the hotel, and
thought himself safe when he held his candlestick. He ascended to the
other floors more gently, holding aloft his candle, lighting all the
corners before which he had to pass. The great fantastic shadows that
come and go, in ascending a staircase with a light, caused him vague
discomfort, as they suddenly rose and disappeared before him.
As soon as he was upstairs, and had rapidly opened his door and shut
himself in, his first care was to look under his bed, and make a minute
inspection of the room to see that nobody was concealed there. He closed
the window in the roof thinking someone might perhaps get in that
way, and feeling more calm after taking these measures, he undressed,
astonished at his cowardice.
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