preparations going on for their deliverance was considerably qualified
when they beheld the precarious vehicle by means of which they were to
be conveyed to upper air. It swung about a yard free of the spot which
they occupied, obeying each impulse of the tempest, the empty air all
around it, and depending upon the security of a rope, which, in the
increasing darkness, had dwindled to an almost imperceptible thread.
Besides the hazard of committing a human being to the vacant atmosphere
in such a slight means of conveyance, there was the fearful danger
of the chair and its occupant being dashed, either by the wind or the
vibrations of the cord, against the rugged face of the precipice. But
to diminish the risk as much as possible, the experienced seaman had let
down with the chair another line, which, being attached to it, and
held by the persons beneath, might serve by way of gy, as Mucklebackit
expressed it, to render its descent in some measure steady and regular.
Still, to commit one's self in such a vehicle, through a howling tempest
of wind and rain, with a beetling precipice above and a raging abyss
below, required that courage which despair alone can inspire. Yet,
wild as the sounds and sights of danger were, both above, beneath, and
around, and doubtful and dangerous as the mode of escaping appeared to
be, Lovel and the old mendicant agreed, after a moment's consultation,
and after the former, by a sudden strong pull, had, at his own imminent
risk, ascertained the security of the rope, that it would be best to
secure Miss Wardour in the chair, and trust to the tenderness and care
of those above for her being safely craned up to the top of the crag.

"Let my father go first," exclaimed Isabella; "for God's sake, my
friends, place him first in safety!"

"It cannot be, Miss Wardour," said Lovel;--"your life must be first
secured--the rope which bears your weight may"--

"I will not listen to a reason so selfish!"

"But ye maun listen to it, my bonnie lassie," said Ochiltree, "for a'
our lives depend on it--besides, when ye get on the tap o' the heugh
yonder, ye can gie them a round guess o' what's ganging on in this
Patmos o' ours--and Sir Arthur's far by that, as I'm thinking."

Struck with the truth of this reasoning, she exclaimed, "True, most
true; I am ready and willing to undertake the first risk--What shall I
say to our friends above?"

"Just to look that their tackle does not graze on the face o' the