In the process of reading "In Kropfsberg Keep," I was confused by this sentence, had to stop to figure it out, and, in that process, noted that it includes a gerund, two infinitives, and a gerundive, all in addition to some confusing and complicated clause structures. My malicious mind jumped -- a perfect sentence for an assessment quiz for late in the work at KISS Level Four! (The A Quiz is the easiest way to assess students' understanding.)
     Lovers of ghost stories may want to purchase Classic Ghost Stories by Wilkie Collins, M. R. James, Charles Dickens and Others, edited by John Grafton (A Dover Thrift Edition), which is where I first read this story. (I intend to use short passages from most, if not all, of the stories in that book for exercises.) The story is also on the web at http://www.horrormasters.com/SS_Col_Cram1.htm.