He managed to win to the lower platform of the fire escape before Quasimodo emerged.
There was a fourteen-foot drop to the street, and the man with the golden stubble on his chin and cheeks swung for a moment to gauge his landing.

Quasimodo came after with the agility of an ape.

The race down the street began with about a hundred yards in between.
Down the hill they went, like phantoms.

The distance did not widen.
Bears will run amazingly fast and for a long while.

The quarry cut into Pearl Street for a block, turned a corner, and soon vaguely espied the Hudson River.