t, which seemed very easy to talk about in the
observatory, but very difficult to perform with the wind blowing a
hurricane, and all around him a darkness so thick that it was like that
of old--a darkness to be felt.

"But the telescope's right," thought Tom, "and the roofs safe;" and
getting his lips to the broken opening, he yelled out, doubtful whether
his words would be heard in the midst of that bewildering noise--"All
right, uncle; lower away!"

He had thrust the hammer back inside his jacket, and now gave the rope a
snatch, feeling it yield gently and steadily, as he rose and tried the
knot with both hands, but had to thrust them out again to save himself
from being dashed against the building, so fierce a squall once more
struck him from behind.

The next instant he was once more pinned against the place, and held by
the rope as well. This gave him renewed confidence.

"Uncle is on the look-out," he muttered; and as soon as the worst
pressure of the wind was over, he once more shouted through the opening,
and losing no time, laid hold of the rail with both hands, resting his
chest upon it, raised his legs horizontally, allowed them to drop down,
and hung by his arms and the cord; then, as the rope gave, by his hands,
and the next minute by the rope, which glided over the rail slowly, and
then stopped short, leaving him swinging with his face level with the
flooring, and swinging to and fro.

_Whoosh_! came the wind again, making him lose his hold of the rope and
catch at the floor of the gallery, into which he drove his finger-nails
for a moment, but only to have them wrenched away, as the wind shrieked
and yelled in his ears, and turned him right round and round rapidly
like an over-roasted joint.

"Lower away, uncle, lower away!" he shouted; but he might just as well
have spared his voice, for not a word could by any possibility have been
heard in the observatory, the wind sweeping breath and sound away, and
nearly strangling him when he faced it.

Twice over he got a grip of the edge of the gallery, but only to be
snatched away again and swung to and fro.

"Why don't you lower away? Quick! quick!" he shrieked out; and as if in
response, he descended three or four feet, and then a couple more in
little painful jerks. Then the rope stopped; the wind dashed at him,
and he was swung to and fro and round and round like a feather. Now his
feet touched the bricks of the mill, then he was far away again,