In the silence which followed, my ear caught another sound the like of which I had never heard before.

A dozen clocks being wound by quick turns on all sides of me would, I fancy, have produced a similar effect.

It was evident to me that my knocking had disturbed my uncle's pets, but I was not to be frightened away.

Hearing no movement in the house I tried the door, and to my astonishment it swung open.

A peculiar odor, such as one notices in a house that has long stood empty, came to my nostrils, and again I heard that fateful whirring, but in the darkness I could discern no object.