One resolved to shoot, and the other menaced suffocation.

Their means being chosen, they would forthwith break the door.

Flight instantly suggested itself as most eligible in circumstances so perilous.

I deliberated not a moment; but, fear adding wings to my speed, I leaped out of bed, and scantily robed as I was, rushed out of the chamber, down stairs, and into the open air.

I can hardly recollect the process of turning keys, and withdrawing bolts.