Stephen had said that he should come by way of Bristol, and thence by a steamer to Castle Boterel, in order to avoid the long journey over the hills from St.¬†LaunceвАЩs. He did not know of the extension of the railway to Camelton.
During the afternoon a thought occurred to Elfride, that from any cliff along the shore it would be possible to see the steamer some hours before its arrival.
She had accumulated religious force enough to do an act of supererogation. The act was thisвБ†вАФto go to some point of land and watch for the ship that brought her future husband home.
It was a cloudy afternoon. Elfride was often diverted from a purpose by a dull sky; and though she used to persuade herself that the weather was as fine as possible on the other side of the clouds, she could not bring about any practical result from this fancy. Now, her mood was such that the humid sky harmonized with it.
Having ascended and passed over a hill behind the house, Elfride came to a small stream. She used it as a guide to the coast. It was smaller than that in her own valley, and flowed altogether at a higher level. Bushes lined the slopes of its shallow trough; but at the bottom, where the water ran, was a soft green carpet, in a strip two or three yards wide.
In winter, the water flowed over the grass; in summer, as now, it trickled along a channel in the midst.
Elfride had a sensation of eyes regarding her from somewhere. She turned, and there was Mr. Knight. He had dropped into the valley from the side of the hill. She felt a thrill of pleasure, and rebelliously allowed it to exist.
вАЬWhat utter loneliness to find you in!вАЭ
вАЬI am going to the shore by tracking the stream. I believe it empties itself not far off, in a silver thread of water, over a cascade of great height.вАЭ
вАЬWhy do you load yourself with that heavy telescope?вАЭ
вАЬTo look over the sea with it,вАЭ she said faintly.
вАЬIвАЩll carry it for you to your journeyвАЩs end.вАЭ And he took the glass from her unresisting hands. вАЬIt cannot be half a mile further. See, there is the water.вАЭ He pointed to a short fragment of level muddy-gray colour, cutting against the sky.
Elfride had already scanned the small surface of ocean visible, and had seen no ship.
They walked along in company, sometimes with the brook between themвБ†вАФfor it was no wider than a manвАЩs strideвБ†вАФsometimes close together. The green carpet grew swampy, and they kept higher up.
One of the two ridges between which they walked dwindled lower and became insignificant. That on the right hand rose with their advance, and terminated in a clearly defined edge against the light, as if it were abruptly sawn off. A little further, and the bed of the rivulet ended in the same fashion.
They had come to a bank breast-high, and over it the valley was no longer to be seen. It was withdrawn cleanly and completely. In its place was sky and boundless atmosphere; and perpendicularly down beneath themвБ†вАФsmall and far offвБ†вАФlay the corrugated surface of the Atlantic.
The small stream here found its death. Running over the precipice it was dispersed in spray before it was halfway down, and falling like rain upon projecting ledges, made minute grassy meadows of them. At the bottom the water-drops soaked away amid the debris of the cliff. This was the inglorious end of the river.
вАЬWhat are you looking for?вАЭ said Knight, following the direction of her eyes.
She was gazing hard at a black objectвБ†вАФnearer to the shore than to the horizonвБ†вАФfrom the summit of which came a nebulous haze, stretching like gauze over the sea.
вАЬThe Puffin, a little summer steamboatвБ†вАФfrom Bristol to Castle Boterel,вАЭ she said. вАЬI think that is itвБ†вАФlook. Will you give me the glass?вАЭ
Knight pulled open the old-fashioned but powerful telescope, and handed it to Elfride, who had looked on with heavy eyes.
вАЬI canвАЩt keep it up now,вАЭ she said.
вАЬRest it on my shoulder.вАЭ
вАЬIt is too high.вАЭ
вАЬUnder my arm.вАЭ
вАЬToo low. You may look instead,вАЭ she murmured weakly.
Knight raised the glass to his eye, and swept the sea till the Puffin entered its field.
вАЬYes, it is the PuffinвБ†вАФa tiny craft. I can see her figurehead distinctlyвБ†вАФa bird with a beak as big as its head.вАЭ
вАЬCan you see the deck?вАЭ
вАЬWait a minute; yes, pretty clearly. And I can see the black forms of the passengers against its white surface. One of them has taken something from anotherвБ†вАФa glass, I thinkвБ†вАФyes, it isвБ†вАФand he is levelling it in this direction. Depend upon it we are conspicuous objects against the sky to them. Now, it seems to rain upon them, and they put on overcoats and open umbrellas. They vanish and go belowвБ†вАФall but that one who has borrowed the glass. He is a slim young fellow, and still watches us.вАЭ
Elfride grew pale, and shifted her little feet uneasily.
Knight lowered the glass.
вАЬI think we had better return,вАЭ he said. вАЬThat cloud which is raining on them may soon reach us. Why, you look ill. How is that?вАЭ
вАЬSomething in the air affects my face.вАЭ
вАЬThose fair cheeks are very fastidious, I fear,вАЭ returned Knight tenderly. вАЬThis air would make those rosy that were never so before, one would thinkвБ†вАФeh, NatureвАЩs spoilt child?вАЭ
ElfrideвАЩs colour returned again.
вАЬThere is more to see behind us, after all,вАЭ said Knight.
She turned her back upon the boat and Stephen Smith, and saw, towering still higher than themselves, the vertical face of the hill on the right, which did not project seaward so far as the bed of the valley, but formed the back of a small cove, and so was visible like a concave wall, bending round from their position towards the left.
The composition of the huge hill was revealed to its backbone and marrow here at its rent extremity. It consisted of a vast stratification of blackish-gray slate, unvaried in its whole height by a single change of shade.
It is with cliffs and mountains as with persons; they have what is called a presence, which is not necessarily proportionate to their actual bulk. A little cliff will impress you powerfully; a great one not at all. It depends, as with man, upon the countenance of the cliff.
вАЬI cannot bear to look at that cliff,вАЭ said Elfride. вАЬIt has a horrid personality, and makes me shudder. We will go.вАЭ
вАЬCan you climb?вАЭ said Knight. вАЬIf so, we will ascend by that path over the grim old fellowвАЩs brow.вАЭ
вАЬTry me,вАЭ said Elfride disdainfully. вАЬI have ascended steeper slopes than that.вАЭ
From where they had been loitering, a grassy path wound along inside a bank, placed as a safeguard for unwary pedestrians, to the top of the precipice, and over it along the hill in an inland direction.
вАЬTake my arm, Miss Swancourt,вАЭ said Knight.
вАЬI can get on better without it, thank you.вАЭ
When they were one quarter of the way up, Elfride stopped to take breath. Knight stretched out his hand.
She took it, and they ascended the remaining slope together. Reaching the very top, they sat down to rest by mutual consent.
вАЬHeavens, what an altitude!вАЭ said Knight between his pants, and looking far over the sea. The cascade at the bottom of the slope appeared a mere span in height from where they were now.
Elfride was looking to the left. The steamboat was in full view again, and by reason of the vast surface of sea their higher position uncovered it seemed almost close to the shore.
вАЬOver that edge,вАЭ said Knight, вАЬwhere nothing but vacancy appears, is a moving compact mass. The wind strikes the face of the rock, runs up it, rises like a fountain to a height far above our heads, curls over us in an arch, and disperses behind us. In fact, an inverted cascade is thereвБ†вАФas perfect as the Niagara FallsвБ†вАФbut rising instead of falling, and air instead of water. Now look here.вАЭ
Knight threw a stone over the bank, aiming it as if to go onward over the cliff. Reaching the verge, it towered into the air like a bird, turned back, and alighted on the ground behind them. They themselves were in a dead calm.
вАЬA boat crosses Niagara immediately at the foot of the falls, where the water is quite still, the fallen mass curving under it. We are in precisely the same position with regard to our atmospheric cataract here. If you run back from the cliff fifty yards, you will be in a brisk wind. Now I daresay over the bank is a little backward current.вАЭ
Knight rose and leant over the bank. No sooner was his head above it than his hat appeared to be sucked from his headвБ†вАФslipping over his forehead in a seaward direction.
вАЬThatвАЩs the backward eddy, as I told you,вАЭ he cried, and vanished over the little bank after his hat.
Elfride waited one minute; he did not return. She waited another, and there was no sign of him.
A few drops of rain fell, then a sudden shower.
She arose, and looked over the bank. On the other side were two or three yards of level groundвБ†вАФthen a short steep preparatory slopeвБ†вАФthen the verge of the precipice.
On the slope was Knight, his hat on his head. He was on his hands and knees, trying to climb back to the level ground. The rain had wetted the shaly surface of the incline. A slight superficial wetting of the soil hereabout made it far more slippery to stand on than the same soil thoroughly drenched. The inner substance was still hard, and was lubricated by the moistened film.
вАЬI find a difficulty in getting back,вАЭ said Knight.
ElfrideвАЩs heart fell like lead.
вАЬBut you can get back?вАЭ she wildly inquired.
Knight strove with all his might for two or three minutes, and the drops of perspiration began to bead his brow.
вАЬNo, I am unable to do it,вАЭ he answered.
Elfride, by a wrench of thought, forced away from her mind the sensation that Knight was in bodily danger. But attempt to help him she must. She ventured upon the treacherous incline, propped herself with the closed telescope, and gave him her hand before he saw her movements.
вАЬO Elfride! why did you?вАЭ said he. вАЬI am afraid you have only endangered yourself.вАЭ
And as if to prove his statement, in making an endeavour by her assistance they both slipped lower, and then he was again stayed. His foot was propped by a bracket of quartz rock, balanced on the verge of the precipice. Fixed by this, he steadied her, her head being about a foot below the beginning of the slope. Elfride had dropped the glass; it rolled to the edge and vanished over it into a nether sky.
вАЬHold tightly to me,вАЭ he said.
She flung her arms round his neck with such a firm grasp that whilst he remained it was impossible for her to fall.
вАЬDonвАЩt be flurried,вАЭ Knight continued. вАЬSo long as we stay above this block we are perfectly safe. Wait a moment whilst I consider what we had better do.вАЭ
He turned his eyes to the dizzy depths beneath them, and surveyed the position of affairs.
Two glances told him a tale with ghastly distinctness. It was that, unless they performed their feat of getting up the slope with the precision of machines, they were over the edge and whirling in midair.
For this purpose it was necessary that he should recover the breath and strength which his previous efforts had cost him. So he still waited, and looked in the face of the enemy.
The crest of this terrible natural fa√Іade passed among the neighbouring inhabitants as being seven hundred feet above the water it overhung. It had been proved by actual measurement to be not a foot less than six hundred and fifty.
That is to say, it is nearly three times the height of Flamborough, half as high again as the South Foreland, a hundred feet higher than Beachy HeadвБ†вАФthe loftiest promontory on the east or south side of this islandвБ†вАФtwice the height of St.¬†AldhelmвАЩs, thrice as high as the Lizard, and just double the height of St.¬†BeeвАЩs. One sea-bord point on the western coast is known to surpass it in altitude, but only by a few feet. This is Great OrmeвАЩs Head, in Caernarvonshire.
And it must be remembered that the cliff exhibits an intensifying feature which some of those are withoutвБ†вАФsheer perpendicularity from the half-tide level.
Yet this remarkable rampart forms no headland: it rather walls in an inletвБ†вАФthe promontory on each side being much lower. Thus, far from being salient, its horizontal section is concave. The sea, rolling direct from the shores of North America, has in fact eaten a chasm into the middle of a hill, and the giant, embayed and unobtrusive, stands in the rear of pygmy supporters. Not least singularly, neither hill, chasm, nor precipice has a name. On this account I will call the precipice the Cliff without a Name.
What gave an added terror to its height was its blackness. And upon this dark face the beating of ten thousand west winds had formed a kind of bloom, which had a visual effect not unlike that of a HambroвАЩ grape. Moreover it seemed to float off into the atmosphere, and inspire terror through the lungs.
вАЬThis piece of quartz, supporting my feet, is on the very nose of the cliff,вАЭ said Knight, breaking the silence after his rigid stoical meditation. вАЬNow what you are to do is this. Clamber up my body till your feet are on my shoulders: when you are there you will, I think, be able to climb on to level ground.вАЭ
вАЬWhat will you do?вАЭ
вАЬWait whilst you run for assistance.вАЭ
вАЬI ought to have done that in the first place, ought I not?вАЭ
вАЬI was in the act of slipping, and should have reached no standpoint without your weight, in all probability. But donвАЩt let us talk. Be brave, Elfride, and climb.вАЭ
She prepared to ascend, saying, вАЬThis is the moment I anticipated when on the tower. I thought it would come!вАЭ
вАЬThis is not a time for superstition,вАЭ said Knight. вАЬDismiss all that.вАЭ
вАЬI will,вАЭ she said humbly.
вАЬNow put your foot into my hand: next the other. ThatвАЩs goodвБ†вАФwell done. Hold to my shoulder.вАЭ
She placed her feet upon the stirrup he made of his hand, and was high enough to get a view of the natural surface of the hill over the bank.
вАЬCan you now climb on to level ground?вАЭ
вАЬI am afraid not. I will try.вАЭ
вАЬWhat can you see?вАЭ
вАЬThe sloping common.вАЭ
вАЬWhat upon it?вАЭ
вАЬPurple heather and some grass.вАЭ
вАЬNothing moreвБ†вАФno man or human being of any kind?вАЭ
вАЬNobody.вАЭ
вАЬNow try to get higher in this way. You see that tuft of sea-pink above you. Get that well into your hand, but donвАЩt trust to it entirely. Then step upon my shoulder, and I think you will reach the top.вАЭ
With trembling limbs she did exactly as he told her. The preternatural quiet and solemnity of his manner overspread upon herself, and gave her a courage not her own. She made a spring from the top of his shoulder, and was up.
Then she turned to look at him.
By an ill fate, the force downwards of her bound, added to his own weight, had been too much for the block of quartz upon which his feet depended. It was, indeed, originally an igneous protrusion into the enormous masses of black strata, which had since been worn away from the sides of the alien fragment by centuries of frost and rain, and now left it without much support.
It moved. Knight seized a tuft of sea-pink with each hand.
The quartz rock which had been his salvation was worse than useless now. It rolled over, out of sight, and away into the same nether sky that had engulfed the telescope.
One of the tufts by which he held came out at the root, and Knight began to follow the quartz. It was a terrible moment. Elfride uttered a low wild wail of agony, bowed her head, and covered her face with her hands.
Between the turf-covered slope and the gigantic perpendicular rock intervened a weatherworn series of jagged edges, forming a face yet steeper than the former slope. As he slowly slid inch by inch upon these, Knight made a last desperate dash at the lowest tuft of vegetationвБ†вАФthe last outlying knot of starved herbage ere the rock appeared in all its bareness. It arrested his further descent. Knight was now literally suspended by his arms; but the incline of the brow being what engineers would call about a quarter in one, it was sufficient to relieve his arms of a portion of his weight, but was very far from offering an adequately flat face to support him.
In spite of this dreadful tension of body and mind, Knight found time for a moment of thankfulness. Elfride was safe.
She lay on her side above himвБ†вАФher fingers clasped. Seeing him again steady, she jumped upon her feet.
вАЬNow, if I can only save you by running for help!вАЭ she cried. вАЬOh, I would have died instead! Why did you try so hard to deliver me?вАЭ And she turned away wildly to run for assistance.
вАЬElfride, how long will it take you to run to Endelstow and back?вАЭ
вАЬThree-quarters of an hour.вАЭ
вАЬThat wonвАЩt do; my hands will not hold out ten minutes. And is there nobody nearer?вАЭ
вАЬNo; unless a chance passer may happen to be.вАЭ
вАЬHe would have nothing with him that could save me. Is there a pole or stick of any kind on the common?вАЭ
She gazed around. The common was bare of everything but heather and grass.
A minuteвБ†вАФperhaps more timeвБ†вАФwas passed in mute thought by both. On a sudden the blank and helpless agony left her face. She vanished over the bank from his sight.
Knight felt himself in the presence of a personalized loneliness.