“That would be a pretty thing to do!” he replied; “and where should I be afterward? I am not at the end of my devices yet. I have got a very snug little crane up there. It was here we ran our last lot, and beat the brave lieutenant so. But unluckily I have no cave just here. None of my lads are about here now, or we would make short work of it. But I could hoist you very well, if you would let me.”
“I would never think of such a thing. To come up like a keg! Captain Lyth, you must know that I never would be so disgraced.”
“Well, I was afraid that you might take it so, though I can not see why it should be any harm. We often hoist the last man so.”
“It is different with me,” said Mary. “It may be no harm; but I could not have it.”
The free-trader looked at her bright eyes and color, and admired her spirit, which his words had roused.
“I pray your forgiveness, Miss Anerley,” he said; “I meant no harm. I was thinking of your life. But you look now as if you could do anything almost.”
“Yes, I am warm again. I have no fear. I will not go up like a keg, but like myself. I can do it without help from anybody.”
“Only please to take care not to cut your little hands,” said Robin, as he began the climb; for he saw that her spirit was up to do it.
“My hands are not little; and I will cut them if I choose. Please not even to look back at me. I am not in the least afraid of anything.”
The cliff was not of the soft and friable stuff to be found at Bridlington, but of hard and slippery sandstone, with bulky ribs oversaling here and there, and threatening to cast the climber back. At such spots nicks for the feet had been cut, or broken with a hammer, but scarcely wider than a stirrup-iron, and far less inviting. To surmount these was quite impossible except by a process of crawling; and Mary, with her heart in her mouth, repented of her rash contempt for the crane sling. Luckily the height was not very great, or, tired as she was, she must have given way; for her bodily warmth had waned again in the strong wind buffeting the cliff. Otherwise the wind had helped her greatly by keeping her from swaying outward; but her courage began to fail at last, and very near the top she called for help. A short piece of lanyard was thrown to her at once, and Robin Lyth landed her on the bluff, panting, breathless, and blushing again.