The Count of Monte Cristo

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the chamber above me, and the next instant a dull, heavy weight seemed
to fall powerless on the staircase. I had not yet fully recovered
consciousness, when again I heard groans, mingled with half-stifled
cries, as if from persons engaged in a deadly struggle. A cry more
prolonged than the others and ending in a series of groans effectually
roused me from my drowsy lethargy. Hastily raising myself on one arm, I
looked around, but all was dark; and it seemed to me as if the rain must
have penetrated through the flooring of the room above, for some kind
of moisture appeared to fall, drop by drop, upon my forehead, and when I
passed my hand across my brow, I felt that it was wet and clammy.

"To the fearful noises that had awakened me had succeeded the most
perfect silence--unbroken, save by the footsteps of a man walking about
in the chamber above. The staircase creaked, he descended into the room
below, approached the fire and lit a candle. The man was Caderousse--he
was pale and his shirt was all bloody. Having obtained the light, he
hurried up-stairs again, and once more I heard his rapid and uneasy