The house was still.

From the floor below ascended the sound of breathing, regular and stertorous, which proved that Simeon was asleep.
He put his hand on the stair-rail and ascended to the next floor, passing his daughter's room on tiptoe.

Above this, a flight of steps that was little more than a ladder led up into the obscurity of the attics.

He climbed these steps, and, entering a lumber-room, where he had to duck his head to avoid striking the sloping roof, felt his way to a shuttered window, with the bolt of which he fumbled for a moment.

When at length he drew the shutter open, a whiff of cold air streamed into the room and a parallelogram of purple sky was visible, studded with stars and crossed by the bars of a little balcony.
Captain Runacles stepped out upon this balcony.