and of ours has noble bulwarks for defence."

Herbert made no reply; the swooping clouds that hurried past, heavily
charged with vapour, shut out every object; and to him the rugged path
was a dark and cheerless way. Once more they continued their ascent,
which here became steeper and more difficult at every step; and although
Mark was familiar with each turn and winding of the narrow track, more
than once he was obliged to stop, and consider the course before him.
Herbert, to whom these interruptions were fresh sources of irritation,
at length exclaimed--

"My dear Mark, have we not gone far enough yet, to convince you
that there is no use in going farther. It is dark as midnight this
moment--you yourself are scarcely certain of the way--there are
precipices and gulleys on every side--and grant that we do reach the
top for sunrise, what shall we be able to see amid the immense masses of
cloud around us?"

"No, Herbert, that same turning back policy it is, which thwarts success
in life. Had you yourself followed such an impulse, you had not gained
the honours that are yours. Onward, is the word of hope to all. And what
if the day should not break clearly, it is a fine thing to sit on the
peak of old Hungry, with the circling clouds wheeling madly below you,
to hear the deep thundering of the sea far, far away, and the cry of the
curlew mingling with the wailing wind--to feel yourself high above the
busy world, in the dreary region of mist and shadow. If at such times
as this the eye ranges not over leagues of coast and sea, long winding
valleys and wide plains, the prophetic spirit fostered by such agencies
looks out on life, and images of the future flit past in cloudy shapes
and changing forms. There, see that black mass that slowly moves along,
and seems to beckon us with giant arm. You'd not reject an augury so
plain."

"I see nothing, and if I go on much farther this way, I shall feel
nothing either, I am so benumbed with cold and rain already."

"Here, then, taste this--I had determined to give you nothing until we
reached the summit."

Herbert drained the little measure of whiskey, and resumed his way more
cheerily.

"There is a bay down here beneath where we stand--a lovely little nook
in summer, with a shore like gold, and waves bright as the greenest
emerald. It is a wild and stormy spot to-day--no boat could live a
moment there; and so steep is the cliff, this stone will find its way to
the bottom wi