, which I startled in my descent, wheeled round my
head, piercing the air with their shrill cries, and as if impatient for
a prey. Above my head the frowning cliff beetled darkly; below, a depth
unfathomable seemed to stretch, from whose black abyss arose the wild
sounds of beating waves. More than once, too, I thought that the
rope had given way above, and that I was actually falling through the
air,--and held my breath in horror; then, again, the idea flashed
upon me that death inevitable awaited me, and I fancied in the singing
billows I could hear the wild shouts of demons rejoicing over my doom.

Through all these maddening visions, the instinct to preserve my life
held its strong sway, and I clutched the knotted rope with the eager
grasp of a drowning man; when suddenly I felt my foot strike a rock
beneath, and then discovered I was on the cliff of which the sailor had
told me. In a few seconds the sense of security imparted a thrill of
pleasure to my heart, and I uttered a prayer of thankfulness for my
safety.

But the fearful conviction of greater danger as suddenly succeeded. The
rope I had so long trusted terminated here; the end hung listlessly on
the rock, and from thence to the brow of the cliff nothing remained to
afford a grip save the short moss and the dried ferns withered with the
sun. The surface of this frightful ledge sloped rapidly towards the edge
where was the rock around which the rope was tied.

Fatigued by my previous exertion I sat down on that moss-grown cliff and
gazed out upon the sea, along which the cutter came, proudly dashing
the spray from her bows, and bending gracefully with every wave. She was
standing fearlessly in, for the wind was off the land, and, as she swept
along, I could have fancied her directly beneath my very feet.

Arousing myself from the momentary stupor of my faculties, I began to
creep down the cliff; but so slippery had the verdure become by heat,
that I could barely sustain myself by grasping the very earth with my
fingers. Aloud "Halloo!" was shouted from the craft, and arose in many
an echo around me; I tried to reply, but could not. A second cheer
saluted me, but I did not endeavor to answer it. The moment was full of
peril. I had come to the last spot which offered a hold, and below me,
at some feet, lay the rock, hanging, as it were, over the precipice; it
seemed to me as though a sea-bird's weight might have sent it thundering
into the depth beneath. The