hiding.

I would not run the risk of losing by such an act of imprudence the
fruit of so much labor and peril, and to conceal all our traces the
ladder must be got entirely into the window. Having no one to help me,
I decided on getting down to the gutter to tilt it, and attain my end.
This in fact I did, but at so great a risk that but for a sort of
miracle I should have paid for my daring with my life. I ventured to
let go of the cord that was attached to the ladder without any fear of
its falling into the canal, because it was caught on the gutter by the
third rung. Then, with my crowbar in my hand, I cautiously let myself
slide down to the gutter by the side of the ladder; the marble ledge
was against my toes, for I let myself down with my face to the roof.
In this attitude I found strength enough to lift the ladder a few
inches, and I had the satisfaction of seeing it go a foot further in.
As the reader will understand, this diminished its weight very
perceptibly. What I now wanted was to get it two feet further in, by
lifting it enough; for after that I felt sure that by climbing up to
the roof of the dormer once more, I could, with the help of the rope,
get it all the way in. To achieve this I raised myself from my knees;
but the force I was obliged to use to succeed made me slip, so that I
suddenly found myself over the edge of the roof as far as my chest,
supported only by my elbows.

It was an awful moment, which to this day I shudder to think of, and
which it is perhaps impossible to conceive of in all its horror. The
natural instinct of self-preservation made me almost unconsciously
lean with all my weight, supporting myself on my ribs, and I
succeeded--miraculously, I felt inclined to say. Taking care not to
relax my hold, I managed to raise myself with all the strength of my
wrists, leaning at the same time on my stomach. Happily there was
nothing to fear for the ladder, for the lucky--or rather the
unlucky--push which had cost me so dear, had sent it in more than
three feet, which fixed it firmly. Finding myself resting on the
gutter literally on my wrists and my groin, I found that by moving my
right side I could raise first one knee and then the other on to the
parapet. Then I should be safe.

However, my troubles were not yet over, for the strain I was obliged
to exert in order to succeed gave me such a nervous spasm that a
violent attack of painful cramp seemed to cripple me completely. I did
no