The Thirty-Nine -, John Buchan adventure story (5)

I believe the answer is:

steps

(Other definitions for steps that I've seen before include "Small ladder" , "Buchan's 1915 novel has 39 of them" , "Stiles" , "John Buchan used 39 of them" , "taken to get on" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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