ow rising in all their majestic
swell, now pouring back in their thousand cataracts from every fissure
in the precipice. So terribly distinct did each object show, so
dreadfully was each distance marked, I felt that all its former gloom
and darkness were not one half so thrilling as that moonlight splendor.

"La bonne Marie guard thee now!" said the old seaman, as he wrung my
hand in his strong fingers. "Be steady and cool of head, and there is
no danger; and look not downwards till thou hast got accustomed to the
cliff."

As he said this, he opened a small door at the foot of the tower stair,
and passing through himself, desired me to follow. I did so, and now
found myself on a narrow ledge of rock, directly over the crag; below,
at about ten feet, lay the chain to which the rope was attached, and to
reach it was not the least perilous part of the undertaking. But in this
I was assisted by the old man, who, passing a rope through a massive
iron staple, gradually lowered me till my hand came opposite the chain.

"Thou hast it now," cried he, as he saw me disengage one hand and grasp
the iron links firmly.

"Yes, all safe! Good-by, friend; good-by!"

"Wait yet," cried he again. "Let not go the cord before thou thinkest
a minute or so; I have known more than one change his mind when he felt
himself where thou art."

"Mine is made up. Farewell!"

"Stay, stay!" shouted he rapidly. "See, thou hast forgotten this purse
on the rock here; wait, and I will lower it with a cord."

By this time I had grasped the chain firmly with both hands, and with
the resolve of one who felt life depend on his own firmness, I began
the descent. The old man's voice, as he muttered a prayer for my safety,
grew fainter and fainter, till at length it ceased to reach my ears
altogether.

Then, for the first time, did my heart sink within me. The words of one
human being, faint and broken by distance, suggested a sense of sympathy
which nerved my courage and braced my arm; but the dreary silence that
followed, only broken by the booming of the sea below, was awful beyond
measure.

Hand below hand I went, the space seeming never to lessen, as I strained
my eyes to catch the cliff where the first rope ended. Time, as in
some fearful dream, seemed protracted to years long; and I already
anticipated the moment when, my strength failing, my hands would
relinquish their hold, and I should be dashed upon the dark rocks below.
The very sea-birds