She
do, for the floor was most irregular—strewn with boulders like
the bed of a stream, and in some places pitted with deep holes,
in which it would have been easy to break one’s leg.
This cavern we pursued for twenty minutes or more, it being, so
far as I could form a judgment—owing to its numerous twists and
turns no easy task—about a quarter of a mile long.
At last, however, we halted at its farther end, and whilst I was
still trying to pierce the gloom a great gust of air came tearing
down it, and extinguished both the lamps.
Ayesha called to us, and we crept up to her, for she was a little
in front, and were rewarded with a view that was positively
appalling in its gloom and grandeur. Before us was a mighty chasm
in the black rock, jagged and torn and splintered through it in a
far past age by some awful convulsion of Nature, as though it had
been cleft by stroke upon stroke of the lightning. This chasm,
which was bounded by a precipice on the hither, and presumably,
though we could not see it, on the farther side also, may have
measured any width across, but from its darkness I do not think
it can have been very broad. It was impossible to make out much
of its outline, or how far it ran, for the simple reason that the
point where we were standing was so far from the upper surface of
the cliff, at least fifteen hundred or two thousand feet, that
only a very dim light struggled down to us from above. The mouth
of the cavern that we had been following gave on to a most
curious and tremendous spur of rock, which jutted out in mid air
into the gulf before us, for a distance of some fifty yards,
coming to a sharp point at its termination, and resembling
nothing that I can think of so much as the spur upon the leg of a
cock in shape. This huge spur was attached only to the parent
precipice at its base, which was, of course, enormous, just as
the cock’s spur is attached to its leg. Otherwise it was utterly
unsupported.
“Here must we pass,” said Ayesha. “Be careful lest giddiness
overcome you, or the wind sweep you into the gulf beneath, for of
a truth it hath no bottom;” and, without giving us any further
time to get scared, she started walking along the spur, leaving
us to follow her as best we might. I was next to her, then came
Job, painfully dragging his plank, while Leo brought up the rear.
It was a wonderful sight to see this intrepid woman gliding
fearlessly along that dreadful place. For my part, when I had
gone but a very few yards, what between the pressure of the air
and the awful sense of the consequences that a slip would entail,
I found it necessary to go down on my hands and knees and crawl,
and so did the other two.
But Ayesha never condescended to this. On she went, leaning her
body against the gusts of wind, and never seeming to lose her
head or her balance.
In a few minutes we had crossed some twenty paces of this awful
bridge, which got narrower at every step, and then all of a
sudden a great gust came tearing along the gorge. I saw Ayesha
lean herself against it, but the strong draught got under her
dark cloak, and tore it from her, and away it went down the wind
flapping like a wounded bird. It was dreadful to see it go, till
it was lost in the blackness. I clung to the saddle of rock, and
looked round, while, like a living thing, the great spur vibrated
with a humming sound beneath us. The sight was a truly awesome
one. There we were poised in the gloom between earth and heaven.
Beneath us were hundreds upon hundreds of feet of emptiness that
gradually grew darker, till at last it was absolutely black, and
at what depth it ended is more than I can guess. Above was space
upon space of giddy air, and far, far away a line of blue sky.
And down this vast gulf upon which we were pinnacled the great
draught dashed and roared, driving clouds and misty wreaths of
vapour before it, till we were nearly blinded, and utterly
confused.
The whole position was so tremendous and so absolutely unearthly,
that I believe it actually lulled our sense of terror, but to
this hour I often see it in my dreams, and at its mere phantasy
wake up covered with cold sweat.
“On! on!” cried the white form before us, for now the cloak had
gone, _She_ was robed in white, and looked more like a spirit
riding down the gale than a woman; “On, or ye will fall and be
dashed to pieces. Keep your eyes fixed upon the ground, and
closely hug the rock.”
We obeyed her, and crept painfully along the quivering path,
against which the wind shrieked and wailed as it shook it,
causing it to murmur like a vast tuning-fork. On we went, I do
not know for how long, only gazing round now and again, when it
was absolutely necessary, until at last we saw that we were on
the very tip of the spur, a slab of rock, little larger than an
ordinary table, that throbbed and jumped like any over-engined
steamer. There we lay, clinging to the ground, and looked about
us, while Ayesha stood leaning out against the wind, down which
her long hair streamed, and, absolutely heedless of the hideous
depth that yawned beneath, pointed before her. Then we saw why
the narrow plank had been provided, which Job and I had painfully
dragged along between us. Before us was an empty space, on the
other side of which was something, as yet we could not see what,
for here—either owing to the shadow of the opposite cliff, or
from some other cause—the gloom was that of night.
“We must wait awhile,” called Ayesha; “soon there will be light.”
At the moment I could not imagine what she meant. How could more
light than there was ever come to this dreadful spot? While I was
still wondering, suddenly, like a great sword of flame, a beam
from the setting sun pierced the Stygian gloom, and smote upon
the point of rock whereon we lay, illumining Ayesha’s lovely form
with an unearthly splendour. I only wish I could describe the
wild and marvellous beauty of that sword of fire, laid across the
darkness and rushing mist-wreaths of the gulf. How it got there I
do not to this moment know, but I presume that there was some
cleft or hole in the opposing cliff, through which it pierced
when the setting orb was in a direct line therewith. All I can
say is, that the effect was the most wonderful that I ever saw.
Right through the heart of the darkness that flaming sword was
stabbed, and where it lay there was the most surpassingly vivid
light, so vivid that even at a distance we could see the grain of
the rock, while, outside of it—yes, within a few inches of its
keen edge—was naught but clustering shadows.
And now, by this ray of light, for which _She_ had been waiting,
and timed our arrival to meet, knowing that at this season for
thousands of years it had always struck thus at sunset, we saw
what was before us. Within eleven or twelve feet of the very tip
of the tongue-like rock whereon we stood there arose, presumably
from the far bottom of the gulf, a sugarloaf-shaped cone, of
which the summit was exactly opposite to us. But had there been a
summit only it would not have helped us much, for the nearest
point of its circumference was some forty feet from where we
were. On the lip of this summit, however, which was circular and
hollow, rested a tremendous flat boulder, something like a
glacier stone—perhaps it was one, for all I know to the
contrary—and the end of this boulder approached to within twelve
feet or so of us. This huge rock was nothing more or less than a
gigantic rocking-stone, accurately balanced upon the edge of the
cone or miniature crater, like a half-crown on the rim of a
wine-glass; for, in the fierce light that played upon it and us,
we could see it oscillating in the gusts of wind.
“Quick!” said Ayesha; “the plank—we must cross while the light
endures; presently it will be gone.”
“Oh, Lord, sir!” groaned Job, “surely she don’t mean us to walk
across that there place on that there thing,” as in obedience to
my direction he pushed the long board towards me.
“That’s it, Job,” I halloaed in ghastly merriment, though the
idea of walking the plank was no pleasanter to me than to him.
I pushed the board on to Ayesha, who deftly ran it across the
gulf so that one end of it rested on the rocking-stone, the other
remaining on the extremity of the trembling spur. Then placing
her foot upon it to prevent it from being blown away, she turned
to me.
“Since I was last here, oh Holly,” she called, “the support of
the moving stone hath lessened somewhat, so that I am not certain
if it will bear our weight or no. Therefore will I cross the
first, because no harm will come unto me,” and, without further
ado, she trod lightly but firmly across the frail bridge, and in
another second was standing safe upon the heaving stone.
“It is safe,” she called. “See, hold thou the plank! I will stand
on the farther side of the stone so that it may not overbalance
with your greater weights. Now, come, oh Holly, for presently the
light will fail us.”
I struggled to my knees, and if ever I felt terrified in my life
it was then, and I am not ashamed to say that I hesitated and
hung back.
“Surely thou art not afraid,” this strange creature called in a
lull of the gale, from where she stood poised like a bird on the
highest point of the rocking-stone. “Make way then for
Kallikrates.”
This settled me; it is better to fall down a precipice and die
than be laughed at by such a woman; so I clenched my teeth, and
in another instant I was on that horrible, narrow, bending plank,
with bottomless space beneath and around me. I have always hated
a great height, but never before did I realise the full horrors
of which such a position is capable. Oh, the sickening sensation
of that yielding board resting on the two moving supports. I grew
dizzy, and thought that I must fall; my spine _crept_; it seemed
to me that I was falling, and my delight at finding myself
sprawling upon that stone, which rose and fell beneath me like a
boat in a swell, cannot be expressed in words. All I know is that
briefly, but earnestly enough, I thanked Providence for
preserving me so far.
Then came Leo’s turn, and though he looked rather queer, he came
across like a rope-dancer. Ayesha stretched out her hand to clasp
his own, and I heard her say, “Bravely done, my love—bravely
done! The old Greek spirit lives in thee yet!”
And now only poor Job remained on the farther side of the gulf.
He crept up to the plank, and yelled out, “I can’t do it, sir. I
shall fall into that beastly place.”
“You must,” I remember saying with inappropriate
facetiousness—“you must, Job, it’s as easy as catching flies.” I
suppose that I must have said it to satisfy my conscience,
because although the expression conveys a wonderful idea of