Mr. Williams had now been upon the premises for perhaps
fifteen or twenty minutes; and in that space of time he had dispatched, in
a style satisfactory to himself, a considerable amount of business. He had
done, in commercial language, 'a good stroke of business.' Upon two
floors, viz., the cellar-floor and the ground-floor, he has 'accounted
for' all the population. But there remained at least two floors more; and
it now occurred to Mr. Williams that, although the landlord's somewhat
chilling manner had shut him out from any familiar knowledge of the
household arrangements, too probably on one or other of those floors there
must be some throats. As to plunder, he has already bagged the whole. And
it was next to impossible that any arrear the most trivial should still
remain for a gleaner. But the throats--the throats--there it was that
arrears and gleanings might perhaps be counted on. And thus it appeared
that, in his wolfish thirst for blood, Mr. Williams put to hazard the
whole fruits of his night's work, and his life into the bargain. At this
moment, if the murderer knew all, could he see the open window above
stairs ready for the descent of the journeyman, could he witness the life-
and-death rapidity with which that journeyman is working, could he guess
at the almighty uproar which within ninety seconds will be maddening the
population of this populous district--no picture of a maniac in flight of
panic or in pursuit of vengeance would adequately represent the agony of
haste with which he would himself be hurrying to the street-door for final
evasion.
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