He at once hastened in pursuit, trying as much as possible to
keep out of her sight, and was gradually lessening the distance between
them, when, on crossing the hollow already mentioned, he saw her on the
edge of the cliff, close to the pinnacle on which she had stood the night
before; where after standing for a moment, she sank downwards and
vanished, but whether into earth or air, he could not tell. He approached
the place. A blast of more than ordinary violence fought against him, as
if determined to preserve the secret of its favourite's refuge. But he
persisted, and gained the spot.
"He then found that the real edge of the precipice was several yards
farther off, the ground sloping away from where he stood. At his feet, in
the slope, was an almost perpendicular opening. He hesitated a little;
but, sure that the child was a real human child and no phantom, he did not
hesitate long. He entered and found it lead spirally downwards. Descending
with some difficulty, for the passage was narrow, he arrived at a small
chamber, into one corner of which the stone shaft, containing the stair,
projected half its round.
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