I had done this, and had let down my sheets, when a movement below turned my heart to ice.

The night had clouded over.

I could see nobody; so much the greater was my alarm.
I withdrew from the window, leaving the sheets hanging, in the hope that they also might be invisible in the darkness.

I put out the candle, and returned to the window in great perplexity.

Next moment I stood aghast--between the devil and the deep sea.