At length, we stopped and alighted.

The night was pitch-dark, and still stormy.

I saw before me only the outline of a large building, indistinct and gloomy, and a small open door dimly lighted-from within.

Hurried across the strip of narrow pavement, and shut in immediately, I had no time to identify localities--no choice, except to follow my conductor and blindly pursue the adventure to its close.

Having entered by a back door, we went up and down a labyrinth of staircases and passages, for the mere purpose, as it seemed, of bewildering me as much as possible--then paused before an oaken door at the end of the corridor.