And then the path grew steeper and steeper, and Elzevir went
slower and slower, till at last he spoke:
'John, I am going to stop; but open not thy eyes till I have set thee
down and bid thee.'
I did as bidden, and he lowered me gently, setting me on all-fours upon
the path; and speaking again:
'The path is too narrow here for me to carry thee, and thou must creep
round this corner on thy hands and knees. But have a care to keep thy
outer hand near to the inner, and the balance of thy body to the cliff,
for there is no room to dance hornpipes here. And hold thy eyes fixed on
the chalk-wall, looking neither down nor seaward.'
'Twas well he told me what to do, and well I did it; for when I opened my
eyes, even without moving them from the cliff-side, I saw that the ledge
was little more than a foot wide, and that ever so little a lean of the
body would dash me on the rocks below. So I crept on, but spent much time
that was so precious in travelling those ten yards to take me round the
first elbow of the path; for my foot was heavy and gave me fierce pain to
drag, though I tried to mask it from Elzevir. And he, forgetting what I
suffered, cried out, 'Quicken thy pace, lad, if thou canst, the time is
short.' Now so frail is man's temper, that though he was doing more than
any ever did to save another's life, and was all I had to trust to in the
world; yet because he forgot my pain and bade me quicken, my choler rose,
and I nearly gave him back an angry word, but thought better of it and
kept it in.
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