s not yet halfway down the
precipice; and now I had to think of how I should manage to haul
the rope down and secure it to another projecting rock. The only
suitable point I could see was some yards away from me to the right
side, and I had to climb upward again before I could find a shelf
by which to approach it. After a tedious attempt--during which my
magic stone came very near to proving its power--I at last reached
the desired place. A gull fluttered away with a wild cry as with
bleeding fingers I held on to the ledge of rock; and there I found,
nestling upon their bed of moss and weeds, a pair of woolly little
chicks which stared strangely at my intrusion.

My safety, perhaps even my life, depended upon my getting astride
of that small rocky point where the young gulls sat. In my
extremity I took hold of one of the chicks, intending to throw it
down the cliffs; but the mother bird flew towards me with such
piteous cries that even in my danger I could not be so cruel, so I
removed the little ones to a crevice close at hand and seated
myself upon their nest, thankful of the refuge it afforded. And now
I heard a shrill whistle from Robbie Rosson, by which I understood
that, seeing my comparative safety, he was going to find some place
where he could get down to the beach, there to wait until I should
bring the boat round for him.

But I must say that I thought my chances of ever getting round to
him were very small. I was not by any means so safe as he seemed to
think, for being once seated on that shelf of the cliff I found
that my next difficulty would be to turn round with my face to the
rock in order to continue the perilous descent.

I had now to get my rope down from the height above me. First then
I tied one end of the line round my body so that the rope might not
fall, and, allowing the other end to hang slack, began to haul
away. Things went well for a few moments, and the rope answered to
every pull I gave. But, alas! there came a check. I had let loose
the wrong end, and the knot by which we had connected the two lines
had caught in some crevice. Try as I might I could not loosen it;
yet I was not certain that its hold was firm enough for me to
venture climbing up again by the portion of the rope that I held in
my grasp.

My thoughts were fearful. Here was I, stranded on this ledge of
rock, midway up the face of a steep precipice, the sea roaring far
beneath me, and with no obvious means of escape ei