I must have gone clean to the bottom otherwise. I
thought I had."
She caught back an involuntary shudder, and in a moment the hand that
held hers closed unceremoniously and drew her further from the edge of
the cliff.
"You are sure you are none the worse, now?" he said. "Not giddy or
anything?"
"No, not anything," she said.
But she was glad of his hold none the less, and he seemed to know it, for
he kept her hand firmly clasped.
"You must let me see you back," he said. "Where are you staying?"
"At Mrs. Rickett's," she told him. "The village smithy, you know."
"I know," he said. "Down at Little Shale, you mean. You've come some way,
haven't you?"
"It was such a lovely night," she said, "and Columbus wanted a walk. I
got led on, I didn't know I was likely to meet anyone."
"It's the short cut to High Shale," he said. "There is always the chance
of meeting these fellows along here. You'd be safer going the other way."
"But I like the furze bushes and the nightingale," she said
regretfully, "and the exquisite wildness of it. It is not nearly so
nice the other way."
He laughed. "No, but it's safer. Come this way as much as you like in the
morning, but go the other way at night!"
He turned with the words, and began to lead her down the path.
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