'Now, gentlemen,' said I, 'if the rope is ready, here is the
criminal!'

The tunnel was cleared, the stake driven, the rope extended. As I
moved forward to the place, many of my comrades caught me by the
hand and wrung it, an attention I could well have done without.

'Keep an eye on Clausel!' I whispered to Laclas; and with that, got
down on my elbows and knees took the rope in both hands, and worked
myself, feet foremost, through the tunnel. When the earth failed
under my feet, I thought my heart would have stopped; and a moment
after I was demeaning myself in mid-air like a drunken jumping-
jack. I have never been a model of piety, but at this juncture
prayers and a cold sweat burst from me simultaneously.

The line was knotted at intervals of eighteen inches; and to the
inexpert it may seem as if it should have been even easy to
descend. The trouble was, this devil of a piece of rope appeared
to be inspired, not with life alone, but with a personal malignity
against myself. It turned to the one side, paused for a moment,
and then spun me like a toasting-jack to the other; slipped like an
eel from the clasp of my feet; kept me all the time in the most
outrageous fury of exertion; and dashed me at intervals against the
face of the rock. I had no eyes to see with; and I doubt if there
was anything to see but darkness. I must occasionally have caught
a gasp of breath, but it was quite unconscious. And the whole
forces of my mind were so consumed with losing hold and getting it
again, that I could scarce have told whether I was going up or
coming down.