Page:Once a Week Jul - Dec 1859.pdf/412

12, 1859.] resound with its echo. And very soon after the hail of “Lions, ahoy!“ greeted us.

To descend from our exalted position, without the aid of daylight, was no easy matter. Indeed, the descent was at any time worse than the ascent, for one false step would have been instant death; but this to us, under the circumstances, was not a subject of a moment’s consideration, therefore striking our tent, and taking with us all that we thought useful, and having made ourselves a guy fast to the top to steady our bodies, we began the descent. I was the last to go down, and found the line of the greatest aid.

A sailor always feels safe if he has a rope in his hand, no matter how small it may be; it was so with me, and perhaps it was this very confidence that caused me to trust too much to the line. I had got nearly half way down, just about where the cliff commenced to tumble home, when I set my foot on a projection of rock, which being suddenly detached, I came down several feet by the run; and when I recovered my hold, I found myself hanging in mid-air full fifty feet from the base.

The line by which I hung suspended was but a small one, and not well calculated to sustain my weight. My best, and perhaps only chance, was to swing myself on to a ledge which lay some three fathoms from me. To do this, however, it was necessary to get a foot-hold to give myself an impetus, and get a turn of the rope round my hand to prevent it slipping.



During this time the party below became aware that something was wrong, and lit up another blue-light. The grey rock looked livid with its sickly glare, and I could see distinctly my danger. Below me were large masses of broken rock on which I must in all probability be dashed to pieces, if I fell. I was just preparing myself fora final effort to reach some place of safety, when a new danger menaced me. As I was putting my foot against the rock to give my body a lateral motion, I felt a sort of vibration in the rope, which told me that the sharp projections of the rock were cutting the line in two, and that one strand, if not two had parted above. A film came across my eyes, and all the actions of my life, long forgotten, flashed across my mind, and then I felt I was descending into an unfathomable depth, and all was blank and dark.

How long I remained in an unconscious state I cannot tell; but, when I came to myself, I was lying on a broad luxurious bed, set at the farther end of a large sleeping apartment, and near to the window, at the other end of the room, was seated a young girl of exquisite mould and feature. She was sitting with her face bent down, and her rich hair hung in a cluster from her finely shaped head. Her face was pale and her forehead high; and as she sat motionless, with one hand placed gracefully forward, I could see that she had a beautifully rounded arm, and her skin was as clear as alabaster. I gazed for some seconds on this apparently delusive scene, for to me it was too lovely to be real; and it was not until I could see the heaving of her bosom that I could bring myself to think her a being of this world.

I tried to raise myself, but in doing so I found that my left arm was powerless; and, falling back, I asked, faintly, where I was.

The sound of my voice startled her, and rising hastily, she came to the bed-side, and holding up her finger, said, in a low voice which thrilled through my whole body: “Hush! the doctor says you are not to speak; but, as you are now awake, I will send for him.” And she left the room for a few seconds. When she returned she gave me a tumbler of cool refreshing drink.

I shall never forget the exquisite sensation which crept over me as that beautiful girl moved noiselessly about the room, bathing my temples and adjusting my pillows. I thought she must be an angel sent specially for my comfort, and I was afraid if I moved or spoke that the vision would be rudely dispelled.

A peculiar languor overspread my whole frame; a deliciously cool feeling, as though cold water was issuing from a fountain in my heart and permeating through all my veins. And then how sweetly came the softened light through the partly closed windows, beyond which could be seen the cool, green, umbrageous trees, whose branches were waving gently in the morning breeze; and then the gentle moaning of that breeze among their branches, and the lulling buzz of insects, with occasionally the merry voices of negroes all had a delightful effect on my shattered nerves.

But, during all this time, I felt particularly hungry, and I wished the angel would give me something to eat; but I refrained from asking for it, for I should have been ashamed to have asked an angel for anything so grossly material, knowing, as I did, that angels subsisted entirely on love. Now, although I felt that love was a most exquisite thing; and that, having such a charming object on which I could concentrate