I had no reason to believe they would, and yet the long time I had been there--apparently much longer than it really was--the certainty that my means of light were fast being exhausted, the awful silence and loneliness, left upon me a horror against which I struggled in vain.

I can hardly conceive that I slept, and yet I certainly lost consciousness, for, when I aroused myself, I was in pitch darkness.
I felt dazed, bewildered, but as my hand felt the edge of the table I comprehended where I was, and what had occurred.

Groping about I found flint and steel, and that last candle, which I forced into the candlestick.

The tiny yellow flame was like a message from the gods.

How I watched it, every nerve tingling, as it burned lower and lower.