Then Lamb said-- "I don't mind." If he didn't mind, why should he nearly choke saying so?
However, he broke the ice, and others followed.

I considered myself as good a man as Lamb any day (it was only my own opinion), and I wasn't going to be outdone by him now.

So I volunteered.

And one or two others who considered themselves as good as I volunteered too, until the forlorn hope numbered a dozen.
"Come along," said Fraser, who had armed himself with a lighted candle and led the way.
I think those who stayed behind felt a little dismayed when the last of us glided from the door and left them behind.
Still, as far as happiness of mind was concerned, they would not have gained much had they been of our party.

For we descended the staircase in rather depressed spirits, starting at every creak, and--some of us-- wishing twenty times we were safe back in the dormitory.