minute
peals through many a deep cavern below; and then, gathering for fresh
efforts, it swelled and beat against the stern rocks in passionate fury.
Such sounds, heard in the silence of the night, are of the saddest; nor
was their influence lightened by the low, monotonous chant of the old
sailor, who, seated in a corner, began to repair a fishing-net, as he
sang to himself some ditty of the sea.

How strangely came the thought to my mind, that all the peril I once
incurred to reach France, the hoped-for, wished-for land, I should
again brave to escape from its shores! Every dream of boyish ambition
dissipated, every high hope flown, I was returning to my country as poor
and humble as I left it, but with a heart shorn of all the enthusiasm
that gave life its coloring. In what way I could shape my future career
I was not able even to guess; a vague leaning to some of England's
distant colonies, some new world beyond the seas, being all my
imagination could frame of my destiny. A sudden flash of light,
illuminating the whole interior of the tower, startled me from my
musings, while the sailor called out,--

"Come, wake up, friend! The cutter is standing in close, and a signal to
make haste flying from her mast."

I sprang to my legs, and looked out. The sea was all freckled with the
moonlight, and the little craft shone like silver, as the bright beams
glanced on her white sails. The tall cliffs alone preserved their gloom,
and threw a dark and frowning shadow over the waves beneath them.

"I can see nothing close to shore," said I, pointing to the dark rocks
beneath the window.

"Thou'lt have the moon presently; she's rising above the crest of the
hill, and then the cliffs are clear as at noonday. So, make haste! strap
on that knapsack on your shoulder; high up, mind; and give thine arms
full play,--that's it. Now fasten thy shoes over all; thou wert not
about to wear them, surely?" said he in a tone almost derisive. "Take
care, in keeping from the face of the rock, not to sway the rope; it
wears the cordage. And, above all, mind well when thou reachest the
cliff below; let not thy hold go before thou hast well felt thy footing.
See, the moon is up already!"

As he spoke, a vast sheet of yellow light seemed to creep over the whole
face of the precipice, displaying every crag and projection, and making
every spot of verdure or rock brilliant in color; while, many a fathom
down below, the heavy waves were seen,--n