St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1885-05-07
Petherick's Peril.
A Prize Story.
BY L. W. THOMSON.

ment, and this rises six feet above the
ground. The brick walls narrow to
eight inches as they ascend, and form
"A parapet rising above the roof. One
of the time keepers of the factory, Jack
Hardy, young man about my own
age, often runs along the brick work,
the practice giving him a singular de-
light that has seemed to increase with
his proficiency in it. Having been a
clerk in the works from the beginning,
/ have frequently used the parapet for
"A foot path, ard although there was a
sheer fall of one hundred feet to the
ground, have done it with ease and
without dizziness. Occasionally Har-
dy and have run races, on the OppO-
site walls, an exercise in which | was
invariably beaten, because / became
timid with increase of pace.
HOpelessly distanced last Wednes-
day, while the men were off at noon, |
gave up midway, and looking down,
observed the upturned face of an old
man, gazing at me with parted lips,
wide eyes, and an expression OF hOr-
rOr so startling that | Involuntary
stepped down to the bricklayers' plat
form inside. then saw that the ap-
parently frightened spectator was Mr..
Petherick, who has been for some
weeks paymaster and factOtum for the
contractors.
"What's the matter, Petherickf |
called down. He made no answer, but
walking off rapidly, disappeared round
the mill. Curious about his demeanOr,
/ descended, and, after some little
seeking, found him smoking alone.
fri, Ina at
Petherick," said |. Ibid you think |
was n ghost 7"
"'Not just that he replied, senten-
tiOusly.
"Did you expect me to fall, then p l
inquired.
mot Just that. either, said he. The
old man was clearly disinclined to talk,
and apparently much agitated. | be-
gan to joke him about his lugubrious
expression, when the One-O'clOck bell
rang, and he shuffied off hastily to
another quarter.
Though | puzzled awhile over the
incident, it soon passed SO entirely
from my mind that | was surprised
when, passing Petherick in the after
noon, intending to go alOft, he said, as
| went by
Don't do it again, Mr.. Frazer"
"What 4" stopped.
Chat !" he retOrted.
sob You mean running on the
WALL" said L.
81 mean going on it at all !" he ex-
claimed. His earnestness was so
marked that | conceived a strong in
terest i'll its cause.
''Ill make bargain with you, Mr..
Petherick. If you tell me why you adj
wise me, I'll give the thing up!"
"DOne :" said he. "COme to my
cottage this evening, and | will tell
yOu strange adventure of my own,
though perhaps you'll only laugh that
it's the reason why it sickens me to see
you fooling up there"
Petherick was ready to talk when
Jack and | sat down on his dOOrsteps
that evening, and Immediately launch
ed into the following narrative:
81 was born and grew to manhood
near the high cliffs of the coast of Corn
wall. Millions of sea-fOwls make their
nests along the face of those wave
worn precipices. My companions and
| used to get much excitement, and
sometimes good deal of pocket
money, by taking their eggs. One of
us, placing his feet in loop ut the end
of a rope and taking a good grip with
his hands, would be lowered by the
others TO the nest.
"When he had his basket full, they'd
haul him up, and another would go
down. "Well, one afternoon, | thus
went dangling off. They paid out
about hundred feet of rope before |
touched the ledge aud let CO."
"What ledge :" asked Jack.
ooh :" said Petherick, after "a pause.
II see it will be troublesome to make
you understand the situation" Then,
after rejecting for some moments
"You must know that most of the
cliffs along that coast Overhang the
sea. At many points one could drop
six hundred feet into the sea, and then
be forty or fifty feet from the base of
the rock he left. The coast is scooped
under by the waves. But in some
places the cliff wall is as though it
had been eaten away by seas once run
ming in on higher levels. There will
be an overhanging coping, then some
hundred feet down, ledge sticking
out farther than that at the top under
that ledge all will be scOOped away.
In places there are three or four such
lodges, each projecting farther than
those above. These Lodges used to
fall away occasionally, as they do yet,
] am told, for the ocean is gradually
devouring that coast. Where they did
not project farther than the upper cop
ing, one would swing like pendulum
on the rope, and get on the rock, if not
too far in, then put Il rock on the loop
to hold it till his return. When a
ledge did project so that one could
drop straight on il, he hauled down
some slack and left the rope hanging"
"Did the wind never blow it off 2"
asked Jack.
seldom, and never out of reach"
said the old man. "Well, the ledge |
reached was like this" illustrating
with his hands. alt was some ten
feet wide it stuck out maybe six feet
farther than the cliff top; the rock
wall went up pretty near perpendicu-
lar, till near the coping at the ground,
but below the ledge the cliffs face was
so scOoped away that the sea, five hun
dred feet below, ran in under it nigh
fifty feet.
''As ! went down, thousands of birds
rose from the jagged places of the
precipice, circling round me with harsh
screams. Soon touching the ledge, |
stepped from the loop, and drawing
down a little slack, walked off briskly.
For fully quarter of mile the ledge
ran along the cliffs face almost as lev
el and even in width as that sidewalk.
l remember fancying that it slOped out
ward more than usual, but instantly
dismissed the notion, though CATER
Pentreath, the oldest man i'll that
countryside, used to tell us that we
should not get the use of that ledge
always. 1t had been as steady in our
time as in his grandfather's, and we
only laughed at his prophecies Yet