St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1885-05-07

the sea-biTds, / soon stopped and set
my back against the cliff, to rest while
watching them. The day was deadly
still and very warm.
81 remember taking off my cap and
wiping the sweat from my face and
forehead with my sleeve. | looked
down involuntariIy to the assure at my
feet. Instantly my blood almost frOze
with horror There was a distinct
crack between the inner edge of the
assure and the hard-packed, root
threaded soil with which it was filled
Forcibly | pressed back, and in a
fash looked along the ledge. The
fissure was widening under my eyes,
the rock before me seemed sinking
outward, and with "A shudder and a
grOan and roar, the whole long plat
form fell crashing to the sea below |
stood on "a margin of rock scarce foot
wide, at my back perpendicular cliff,
and five hundred feet below the ocean,
now almost hidden by the vast con
course of wheeling and affrighted
birds.
"Can you believe that my first SEN
sation was one of reliefP | stood safe!
Even a feeling of interest held me fol
some moments. Almost coOlly | OBJ
served long and mighty wave roll out
from beneath. 1t went forth with a
high, curling crest-a solid wall OF
water 1t struck the yacht stern on,
plunged down on her deck, smashed
through her swell of sail, and swept
her out of sight forever.
"Not till then did my thoughts dwell
entirely on my own position not till
1 Il I
ness! Now my eyes closed cOnvulsive-
| ly, to shut out the abyss down which
my glance had fallen shuddering,
pressed hard against the solid wall at
my back; an appalling cold slowly
crept through me My reason strug-
gled against "a wild desire to leap; al
the demons of despair whispered me
to make an instant end. In imagina-
ton had leaped | felt the swOOning
helplessness of falling and the cold
upward rush of air
"Still / pressed hard back against
the wall of rock, and though nearly
faint from terror, never forgot for al
instant the death at my feet, nor the
utter danger of the slightest motion
| How long this weakness lasted | know
not ! only know that the unspeaka-
BILE horror of that first period has come
to me i'm waking dreams many and
many a day since that | have long
nights of that deadful fear; that t.
think of the past is to stand again on
that narrow fOOt-hOld, and to look
around on the earth is often to cry out
with JOY that it widens away from my
feet :"
The old man paused long. Glanc-
| ing sidewise at Jack, | saw that his
face was pallid. | myself had shud-
dered and grown cold-so strongly had
my imagination realized the awful eX-
perience that Petherick described.
"Suddenly," said the old man
"these words flashed to my brain
Are not two sparrOws sold for a
| farthingP And one of them shall not
fall on the ground without your Father
Fear not, therefore We are of more
value than many sparrOws.' My fac
ulties so strained. | seemed to hear the
words. Indeed, often yet | think that
| did truly hear a voice utter them
very near me.
Christianity hope arose, consciously
desperate indeed, but | became calm,
resonrceful, capable, and feeling uhac-
cOuntably aided. Careful not to look
down, | opened my eyes and gazed fan
away over the bright sea. The rippled
pillows told that light outward breeze
had sprung up. Slowly, and some
what more distant, the two brigs
moved toward the horizon. Turning
my head, | could trace the narrow
stone of my footing to where my rope
dangled, perhaps three hundred yards
distant.
alt seemed to hang within easy
reach of the cliffs face, and instantly
resolved and as instantly proceeded to
work toward it. No time remained
for hesitation. Night was coming on.
| reasoned that my comrades thought
me killed. They had probably gone
to view the new condition of the
precipice from lower station, and on
their return would haul up and carry
the rope off. | made a move toward
it. Try to think of that journey !"
nodded to him silently.
"Shutfling sidewise very carefully,
had not made five yards before i knew
that | cOuld not continue to look out
over that abyss without glancing down,
and that | could not glance down with
out losing my senses. You have the
brick line to keep eyes on as you walk
along the factory wall; do you think
you could move along it erect, looking
down as you would have to? Yet it
is only one hundred feet high. Imagine
five more such walls on top of that
and you trying to move sidewise-in-
capable of closing your eyes, forced
to look down, from end to end, yes,
three times farther Imagine you've
.,fft
not, in an ecstasy of nervous agitation,
fall to your knees, get down tace-tirst
at full length, clutch by your hands
lOnged to lie down and hold, but of
course that was impossible"
"Still there was a wall at your back, D."
observed Jack.
"That made it worse The cliff
seemed to press outward against me.
1t did, in fact, incline very slightly
outward. 1t seemed to be thrusting me
off. Oh, the horror of that sensation
Your toes on the edge of a precipice,
and the implacable, calm mountain APP
parently weighing you slowly for
ward"
Beads of sweat broke out over his
white face at the horror lac had called
before him. Wiping his lips nervously
with the back of his hand, and look
ing askant, as at the narrow pathway +,
he paused long. saw its cruel edge
and the dark CLEANS of its abysmal
water.
81 knew" he resumed, "that with
my back to the wall cOuld never
reach the rope. | could not face
towards it and step forward, SO mar
row was the ledge. Motion was per
haps barely possibly that way, but the
breath of my shoulders would have
forced me to lean somewhat more out
ward, and this l dared not and could