Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1828-1831, 1829-05-18

AFTER surveying the desolate scene as ac.
c1rateiy as the stormy state of the atno,.
Phere would permit, the younger of the
travellers observed, SIN any other country
. shouid say, the tempest begins to abate:
Out what 10 expect III this land of desolation
IL Were rash 10 decide. If the apostate
spirit OF Pilot be actually on the blast. these
lingering and more distant howis. seem To
intimate that he IS returning to his place of
punishment. The pathway has sunk with
the ground on which it was traced-I can
see part OF 1t lying down in the abyss. mar.
KING as with a streak OF clay, wonder mass
OF earth and stone. Bat ! think il posi-.
pie With your permission, my father, that
l could still scramble forward along the
ecge oil the precipice, till come in siyht
Oh inc hapltation which tho lad -.ells us Of
II there be actually such a one, there must
be an access to 1t somewhere; and if | can
not md the path out, | can at least make a
signal TO those who dwell near the Vulture's
Nest yonder, and obtain some friendly ouid-
ance.
81 cannot consent to your mourning such
a RISK, SAID his father; ''let the lad 90 for
ward If he can and will. He is mountain
bred, and will reward him richly;''
But Antonio declined the proposal abso-
luteiy and decidedly. Il am mountain
hred," he said, but L am no goat hunter:
and have no wings to transport me from
cliff to cliff, like u raven-gold is not worth
life"
And God forbid said ~Seignor Philip
son, "thst | should tempt thee to weigh
them against each other!-Go on, then. NV
son--I follow thee"
Under your favour, dearest sir, no re-
pied the young man; lit is enough TO endan-
| ger the life of one-and mine, far the most
worthless, should, by all the rules of wis
dom as well as nature, be put first in ha-
Zard."
mo, Arthur replied lis father, in a
determined voice; mo, my son-I have sur
vived much, but 1 will not survive thee
81 fear not for the issue, father, if YOU
permit me- TO go alone; but | cannot-dare
n~ot-undertake a task SO perilous, if you
persist 10 attempting 10 share ii, with DO bet
ter aid than mine. While | endcayored to
make a new advance, l should be ever look
ing back 10 see how you should attain tire
station which was about 10 leave;-and
bethink You, dearest father, that if | fall, ]
fall an unregarded thing, OF as little moment
as the rock or tree which has topplcd head
long down before me. But vou-should
your foot slip, or your hand fail, bcthink you
what and how much must needs fail with
| YOU"
'Thou art right, my child said the ia
Their, 81 still have that which binds me to
life, even though | were to lose III thee all
that is dear to me. Our Lady and our La
dy's Knight bless thee and prosper thee. my
child! Thy foot is young, thy hand is strong
thou hast not climbed Plyniimmon in yam
BE bold, but be wary-remember there is q
man who, falling thee, has but one act OF
duty 10 bind HIM TO the earth, and, that dis
charged, he will soon follow thee"
The young man accordingly prepared for
his journey, and stripping himself of his
%cumbrous cloak, showed his wcll-proportion-
ed limbs in a Ierkin Of grey cloth, which sat
close TO his person.-Thc fathers rcsolu
ton gave way when his son turned round tc
bid him farewell. He recalled his permits
sion, and in Z peremptory tone forbade hin
to proceed. But without listening to tin,
prohibition, Arthur had commenced his PC
rilous adventure. Descending from the plat
form oil which he stood, hy the boughs o
an old ash tree, which thrust itself out o
the cleft of n rock, the youth was enabled
10 gain, through n great risk, a marrow
ledge, the very brink of the precipicc, b.
creeping along which he hoped to pass OF
till he made himself heard or seen from tn,
habitation of whose existence the guide hat
informed him. His situation, as he pursue,
this bold purpose, appeared so preCaTious
J that even the hired attendant hardly daret
to draw breath as he gazcd on him
The ledge which supported him seemed Il
grow so narrow as he passed along it, as Il
become altogether invisible, while some
times with bis face to the prccipiCe, some
times looking forward, sometimes glancin.
his eyes upward, but never venturing to cas-
a look below, lest ms brain should grow sid
dy, at a sight 50 appalling, he wound hl
way onward. To his father and the al
tendant, who boheld his progress, it va
less that of a man advancing in tho ord
nary manner, and resting by aught cor
nocted with the firm earth, than that of n
insect crawling, along the face of a pepper
diculsr wall, of whose progressive NOV,
mcnt we are indeed sensible, but cannot pc
celve the means Of its support. And bi