Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1885-05-07
Petherick's Peril.

Each story Of the Shelton Cotton Fac
tory Is fifteen feet between floors; there
are seven such over the basement. and
this rises six feet above The ground. The
brick walls narrow to eight inches as
they ascend, and form a parspet rising
above the roof. One of the time keep.
ers iuetbe factory, Jack Hardy, young
man about my own age,often runs along
the brick work. the practice giving him
a singular delight that has seemed to
Increase with his proficiency in it. Hav-
ing been clerk in the works from the
beginning, 1 have frequently used the
parapet for a foot-path, and although
there was sheer fall of one hundred
feet to the ground. have done it with
ease and without dizziness Occasional
ly Hardy and / have run races, on the
opposite walls, an exercise in which l
was invariably beaten, because / became
timid with increase of pace. sta soy II
- Hopelessly distanced last Wednesday,
while the men were off at noon, 1 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 horror so startling that
l involuntarily' stepped down to the
bricklayers' platform inside. then saw
that the apparently frightened spectator
was Mr.. Petherick, who has been for
some weeks paymaster and faetotum for
the contractors. .I .7a Z -
Whats the matter, Petherick ? l CALI
ed down. He made no answer, bat walk
ing off rapidly disappeared round the
mill Curious about his demeanOr, de-
scended, and after some little seeking,
found him smoking alone. % +-
You quite frightened me just now,
Petherick,' said 1. Did you think l was
a ghost?' o.
Not just that he reOlied, sententi-
ousiy. @
Did you expect me to fall, then p l
inquired. D Il
Not just that, either said he. The
old man was clearly disinclined to talk,
and apparently much agitated. began
to joke him about his lugubrious express
sion, when the o'clock bell rang, and he
shuffied off hastily to another quarter.
Though puzzled awhile over the in
cidsnt, it soon passed so entirely from
my mind that was surprised when,pass-
Petherick in the afternoon, intending to
go aloft, he said. as L went by
Don't de itagain, Mr.. Frazerp
What? ?; asked.
That s1fs retorted.,
'Ohl You mean running on the WALL
said l. s
I mean going on it at allP he exelaim-
ed. His earnestness was so marked that
l conceived strong interest in its cause.
I'll make a bargain with you, Mr..
Petherick. If you tell me why you ad+
wise me. I'll give the thing up'
'Doner said he. Come to my cottage
this evening. and I'll tell you strange
adventure of my own, though perhaps
you'll only laugh that it's the reason
why its sickens me to see you foollng
up there
Petherick was ready to talk when Jack
and 1 sat down on his doorstep that eve
ming. and Immediately launched into the
following narratives:
L was born and grew to manhood near
the high cliffs of the coast of Cornwall.
Millions of sea-fowls make their nests
along the face of those waveworn preei'
pices. 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 a
loop at the end of rope and taking a
good grip with his hands, would be low
cred by the others to the nest.
When he had his basket full, they'd
haul him up, and another would go
down. Well, one afternooD,I thus went
dadgliug off. They paid out about a
hundred feet of rope before I touched
the ledge and let go.
What ledge? asked Jack.
.Ohr said Petherick. after pause. L
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 hum
dred 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 running in on higher levels.
There will be an overhanging coping,
then, some hundred feet down, ledge
sticking out further than that of the top;
under that ledge all will be scooped
away. In places there are three or four
such ledges, ,eaeh projecting further than
those above. These ledges used to fall
away occasionally, as they do yet, l ana
told, for the ocean is gradually devour
ing that coast. Where they did not pro-
ject further than the upper coping, one
would swing like a pendulum on the
rope. and get on the loop to hold it till
his return. When ledge did project
80 that one could drop straight on it, he
hauled down some slack and left the
rope hanging
Did the wind ever blow 1t Off asked
Jack. N->
Seldom, and never out of reach said
the old man. We'll. the ledge / reached