ou are a man of nerve, even if you are a priest, and
I am glad to have been comrade with you."

I heard him answer something as I slowly crept down to the edge,
testing again the feel of the rope before venturing to swing off upon
it. I was not unaccustomed to those adventures incident to rough life
on the frontier; my nerves were not easily jarred by strange
experiences, yet I hold it no pleasant sensation to swing out on a
thirty-foot line at that height, amid utter darkness, especially when
you feel uncertain as to its secure fastening at the farther end.
Moreover, the priest's robe hampered my movements sadly, while, being
no light-weight, the strands of the small cord cut my hands. I durst
not hurry, but took the passage inch by inch, gritting my teeth as I
hung suspended above the abyss, lest I might emit a cry. In truth I
thought my arms would pull out of the sockets before I finally came
alongside the spar. Yet, thanks be to God, the rope held nobly, though
it required every pound of remaining strength to haul my dangling body
up, that I could rest across the wood before I felt after the standing
rope beneath. I clung there weak as a child, trembling like a
frightened woman, the cold perspiration standing in drops upon my face.

I have been in far happier situations than that--lying bent nearly
double across the yard of an enemy's ship on a black night, but at the
moment, so sincerely rejoiced was I to be off that sagging rope, I felt
like humming a tune. Yet I contented myself with sliding along the
smooth spar until I discovered a firm strand of rope beneath my feet,
ventured then to stand upright, and clung for support to the cloth of
the sail. At last I gave our signal, and, as the line slackened to my
hand, drew it cautiously in, coiling it as it came, until all was once
again in my possession. Waiting a moment, to give the _pere_
opportunity to begin his retreat, I undid the noose yet wound about the
small end of the spar, and, with much care, feeling my uncertain way
through the darkness, worked myself slowly along, inward bound toward
the mast. Finally, close beside it I again made fast the end of my
cord, lowering it, paying out the long coil inch by inch, until I felt
convinced from its limpness it must extend to the deck.

I acknowledge it was several minutes before I mustered sufficient
courage to slip down into that intense blackness. It was not so much
fear of men which deterred me, but