"Oh, Walter, don't think of such a thing!" exclaimed Rosie, stepping back suddenly, at the same time catching him by the arm and pulling him away.
"Why, Rosie, do you think I could be such a goose as to attempt anything so foolhardy as that, when nothing was to be gained by it?" he exclaimed, in a tone between vexation and amusement.
"No, I don't," she said, drawing a long breath, "but the very thought of it frightens me."
"To run such a risk without any good object in view—such, for instance, as the saving of the life of someone else—would be a very wicked thing, I think," said Mr. Keith.
"I entirely agree with you," said Captain Raymond, "no one has a right to rush uncalled into the presence of his Maker.
"Oh, I shouldn't think anybody would ever want to try jumping across here!" exclaimed Grace. "I wonder if anyone ever did."
"It is said that the thing was done once under peculiar circumstances," replied Mr. Embury. "The story is that a young and pretty girl, who had many admirers, suitors for her hand, came here with one of them and dared him to jump across the chasm, saying that if he did so successfully, she would marry him; otherwise she would not; whereupon he attempted the dangerous feat and was successful. But his love for his cruel charmer was gone; he turned toward her, lifted his hat, bade her farewell, walked away and left her never to return."
"Which served her just right," exclaimed Lucilla emphatically. "She couldn't have loved him. Why, I wouldn't let an entire stranger do so dangerous a thing, if I could hinder him. Unless it might be somebody who was here to fight against my country," she added as an afterthought, and with a little laugh.
"You would have let Prescott do it, I suppose—Prescott, the Revolutionary tyrant—had you been with him here and he had shown an inclination to try his skill in that line," said Walter.