Presently his foot encountered what appeared to be a step: to his infinite joy he ascertained, in another moment, that he was at the bottom of a flight of stone stairs. He ascended them, and came to a door, which yielded to his touch. He proceeded slowly and cautiously along a passage, groping his way with his hands; and, in a few moments he reached another door, which opened with a latch. He was now in the open street! Carefully closing the door behind him, he hurried away from that accursed vicinity as if he were pursued by blood-hounds. He ran--he ran, reckless of the deep pools of stagnant water, careless of the heaps of thick mud through which he passed,--indifferent to the bruises which he sustained against the angles of houses, the corners of streets, and the stone-steps of doors,--unmindful of the dangers which he dared in threading thus wildly those rugged and uneven thoroughfares amidst the dense obscurity which covered the earth. He ran--he ran, a delirium of joy thrilling in his brain, and thanksgiving in his soul; for now that he had escaped from the peril which so lately beset him, it appeared to his imagination a thousand times more frightful than when it actually impended over him. Oh! he was happy--happy--thrice happy, in the enjoyment of liberty, and the security of life once more;--and he began to look upon the scenes of that eventful night as an accumulation of horrors which could have possibility only in a dream! He ran--he ran, amidst those filthy lanes and foul streets, where a nauseating atmosphere prevailed;--but had he been threading a labyrinth of rose-trees, amongst the most delicious perfumes, he could not have experienced a more burning--ardent--furious joy! Yes--his delight was madness, frenzy! On, on--splashed with mud--floundering through black puddles--knee-deep in mire,--on, on he went--reckless which direction he pursued, so long as the rapidity of his pace removed him afar from the accursed house that had nearly become his tomb! For an hour did he thus pursue his way. At length he stopped through sheer exhaustion, and seated himself upon the steps of a door over which a lamp was flickering. He collected his scattered ideas as well as he could, and began to wonder whither his wild and reckless course had led him: but no conjecture on his part furnished him with any clue to solve the mystery of his present whereabouts. He knew that he must be somewhere in the eastern district of the metropolis; but in what precise spot it was impossible for him to tell. [Illustration] While he was thus lost in vain endeavours to unravel the tangled topographical skein which perplexed his imagination, he heard footsteps advancing along the street. By the light of the lamp he soon distinguished a policeman, walking with slow and measured steps along his beat. "Will you have the kindness to tell me where I am?" said Richard, accosting the officer: "I have lost my way. What neighbourhood is this?"