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.

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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.

An illustration from an 1869 issue of Harper's magazine.  The caption reads: "Heroic self-sacrifice."

"After all [comma] champagne should be a celebration and a properly popping cork is its first hurrah [exclamation point]" —Bryce Courtenay, Brother Fish (2004)

"Mad Impulse": an illustration from an 1876 issue of Frank Leslie's Pleasant Hours magazine.  The caption reads: "My assault was so sudden, that, without even a cry, he tottered, threw up his arms, and the next instant the place that had known him was empty."

Dedicated to Teresa Burritt.

An illustration from an 1899 issue of Pall Mall magazine.

Dedicated to Teresa Burritt.

Here's an illustration from a 1900 issue of The Strand magazine.  The caption reads: "I fell for evermore into the abyss of the sky."