ered a faint shriek as he disappeared, but was too much
horror-stricken to approach the verge of the precipice to ascertain his
fate.

"Be composed, Milly," said her father, "he is safe, as you may see by
the halyards; and to say the truth, the stuff holds on well. So long as
the line proves true, the boy can't fall; he has taken a double turn
with the end of it round his body. Make your mind easy, girl, for I feel
better now, and see my way clear. Don't be uneasy, Sir Wycherly; we'll
have the lad safe on _terra firma_ again, in ten minutes. I scarce know
what has come over me, this morning; but I've not had the command of my
limbs as in common. It cannot be fright, for I've seen too many men in
danger to be disabled by _that_; and I think, Milly, it must be the
rheumatism, of which I've so often spoken, and which I've inherited from
my poor mother, dear old soul. Do you know, Sir Wycherly, that
rheumatism can be inherited like gout?"

"I dare say it may--I dare say it may, Dutton--but never mind the
disease, now; get my young namesake back here on the grass, and I will
hear all about it. I would give the world that I had not sent Dick to
Mr. Rotherham's this morning. Can't we contrive to make the pony pull
the boy up?"

"The traces are hardly strong enough for such work, Sir Wycherly. Have a
little patience, and I will manage the whole thing, 'ship-shape, and
Brister fashion,' as we say at sea. Halloo there, Master
Wychecombe--answer my hail, and I will soon get you into deep water."

"I'm safe on the ledge," returned the voice of Wychecombe, from below;
"I wish you would look to the signal-halyards, and see they do not chafe
against the rocks, Mr. Dutton."

"All right, sir; all right. Slack up, if you please, and let me have all
the line you can, without casting off from your body. Keep fast the end
for fear of accidents."

In an instant the halyards slackened, and Dutton, who by this time had
gained his self-command, though still weak and unnerved by the habits of
the last fifteen years, forced the bight along the edge of the cliff,
until he had brought it over a projection of the rocks, where it
fastened itself. This arrangement caused the line to lead down to the
part of the cliffs from which the young man had fallen, and where it was
by no means difficult for a steady head and active limbs to move about
and pluck flowers. It consequently remained for Wychecombe merely to
regain a footing on that part of the