"Come along," he said; and he led the way to that door in the corner
that seemed to me as if it led into an inner prison.
I shivered and felt depressed and cold as we went towards the door, and,
to make matters worse, the dogs rattled their chains and howled in
chorus as if, having made friends, they were very sorry for me. The big
hound, Nero, seemed the most sorrowful of all, and putting his head as
high as he could reach he uttered a deep hollow howl, that to my excited
fancy sounded like "Poooooor boooooy!" just as Mr Solomon, with a face
as stern as an executioner's might have been as he led someone to the
Tower block, threw open the great door in the wall and said shortly: "Go on!"
I went on before him, passed through in a wretched, despairing way,
wishing I had been a boy like Shock, who was not ashamed to run away,
and then, as I took a few steps forward, I uttered a loud "Oh!"