From The History of England by David Hume, 1825.

A Plunge Into Space by Robert Cromie, 1890.

From Oeuvres Complètes de Grécourt, 1796.

From The Select Works of Bret Hartte in Prose and Poetry, 1872.

From In Chains of Fate by John Max, 1889.

They had left the road of ice, and were flying through the air.  From The People of the Mist by Henry Rider Haggard, 1894.

"Sir Herbert alarms Scrimp with the ghost story," from Phoebe or the Miller's Maid, 1854.

An unexpected arrival, from Master and Man by T. Crofton Croker, reproduced in Gleanings from Popular Authors, 1895.

"They jumped in all at once," from Dicks' English Library of Standard Works, 1884.

Giving a warning too late to be of any help.  It's the oldest trick in the book.  The caption reads, "Take care, Mr. Malone, the stairs are slippery."  From Shirley by Charlotte Brontë, 1897.

An illustration from Doctor Nikola by Guy Newell Boothby (1896).  The caption reads: "I climb the wall. ... I let myself drop."

An illustration from Legal and Other Lyrics by George Outram (1887).  The caption reads: "Oh! what a deevil, &c."

An illustration from Shafts from an Eastern Quiver by Charles Jodrell Mansford (1894).  The caption reads: "Headlong down the abyss."

An illustration from an 1885 issue of Frank Leslie's Pleasant Hours magazine.

   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(
`-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `

An illustration from Gentlemen All and Merry Companions by Ralph Wilhelm Bergengren (1922).  The caption reads: "There was a long, white flash in the moonlight."

An illustration from an 1895 issue of The Idler magazine.

An illustration from a 1906 issue of Wide World magazine.  The caption reads: "I walked right off the train."

An illustration from an 1881 issue of Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly magazine.

Dedicated to Teresa Burritt.

An illustration from an 1878 issue of Harper's magazine.  The caption reads: "The beginning of trouble."

Dedicated to Teresa Burritt.