belongs to the two assassins in 'Macbeth,' who present themselves reeking
from the murder of Banquo, and gleaming dimly, with dreadful faces, from
the misty background, athwart the pomps of the regal banquet.

Meantime the clock struck eleven; the company broke up; the door of
entrance was nearly closed; and at this moment of general dispersion the
situation of the five inmates left upon the premises was precisely this:
the three elders, viz., Williamson, his wife, and his female servant, were
all occupied on the ground floor--Williamson himself was drawing ale,
porter, &c., for those neighbors, in whose favor the house-door had been
left ajar, until the hour of twelve should strike; Mrs. Williamson and her
servant were moving to and fro between the back-kitchen and a little
parlor; the little grand-daughter, whose sleeping-room was on the
_first_ floor (which term in London means always the floor raised by
one flight of stairs above the level of the street), had been fast asleep
since nine o'clock; lastly, the journeyman artisan had retired to rest for
some time. He was a regular lodger in the house; and his bedroom was on
the second floor. For some time he had been undressed, and had lain down
in bed. Being, as a working man, bound to habits of early rising, he was
naturally anxious to fall asleep as soon as possible. But, on this
particular night, his uneasiness, arising from the recent murders at No.
29, rose to a paroxysm of nervous excitement which kept him awake. It is
possible, that from somebody he had heard of the suspicious-looking
stranger, or might even personally observed him slinking about. But, were
it otherwise, he was aware of several circumstances dangerously affecting
this house; for instance, the ruffianism of this whole neighborhood, and
the disagreeable fact that the Marrs had lived within a few doors of this
very house, which again argued that the murderer also lived at no great
distance. These were matters of _general_ alarm. But there were others
peculiar to this house; in particular, the notoriety of Williamson's