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BIOGRAPHY IN THE BEDROOM.
The candle was instantly extinguished.

In discreet silence the girls stole back to their beds, and listened.
As an aid to the vigilance of the sentinel, the door had been left ajar.
Through the narrow opening, a creaking of the broad wooden stairs of the old house became audible.

In another moment there was silence.

An interval passed, and the creaking was heard again.